A Clean Well-Lighted Place

There is a nothing that lurks in the shadows.
But there ain’t no nothing can’t do you no harm.
But then again, no nothing is something,
And maybe that something might cut off your arm.
The old waiter serves you a glass of rye whiskey,
You quietly study the lines on his face.
He’s doing whatever he can to provide you,
Provide you a clean, well-lighted place. 

The road to Madrid on down from Pamplona
Is treacherous and crusty, so dusty, so dark.
It’s many long nights before you can get there,
And the facts you must face there are many and stark.
Someday you’ll be gone, and then they will vanish,
Exactly like you, and be lost with no trace.
So rest for the night, be still and replenish,
Rest in a clean, well-lighted place. 

Nada y nada pues nada y nada
You just gotta last until dawn.
Nothing from nothing leaves nothing but nothing,
So please, won’t you leave the light on? 

Our nada, dear nada, who art thou in nada,
Hallowed be thy nada name.
Thy kingdom is nada, nothing but nada,
Just sound and some fury, but nothing to blame.
I’m nothing, you’re nothing, everything nothing,
We drift through the blackness and the mystery of space.
Don’t cry, my darling, you have all that’s needed—
Only a clean, well-lighted place.

Seoul
4/29/23

Copyright © 2023 by Michael Kim Roos