A Poem I Wish I'd Written

"The Necessary Brevity of Pleasures" by Samuel Hazo, from A Flight to Elsewhere. © Autumn House Press, 2005.
The Necessary Brevity of Pleasures

Prolonged, they slacken into pain
or sadness in accordance with the law of apples.
One apple satisfies.Two apples cloy.
Three apples glut.
Call it a tug-of-war
between enough and more than enough, between sufficiency
and greed, between the stay-at-homers and globe-trotting see-the-worlders.Like lovers

seeking heaven in excess, the hopelessly insatiable forget how passion sharpens appetites that gross indulgence numbs.Result? The haves have not what all the have-nots have since much of having is the need to have. Even my dog knows that - and more than that.He slumbers in a moon of sunlight, scratches his twitches and itches in measure, savors every bite of grub with equal gratitude and stays determinedly in place unless what's suddenly exciting happens. Viewing mere change as threatening, he relishes a few undoubtable and proven pleasures to enjoy each day in sequence and with canine moderation.They're there for him in waiting, and he never wears them out.