Pleasures Are Like Poppies

Pain can take your mind off death.
As close as you ever were
To the latter, you were not

Thinking or afraid of death,
Since you were preoccupied
With how much everything hurt.

It’s another argument
For the worth of pain relief—
Death’s peaceful contemplation.

What is wisdom in practice,
Anyway, but calm, all things
Calmly considered? Kindness

Also benefits from calm—
If, at the moment to act
Kindly or to turn away,

The choosing person stays calm,
Tranquil, untroubled by pain,
The kind choice is more likely.

If the dial could be turned,
One tiny notch, then the next,
Down from pain for everyone,

Not even just for humans,
For the planet all at once,
Would that be such a dire end?

If you were the alien
Who found Earth in your kitchen,
Simmering, pot lid trembling,

Would you not think you ought to
Turn the flames down a little,
Let the suffering settle?