A man with glasses playing an acoustic guitar and singing into a microphone in a classroom or lecture hall. There is a music stand with a binder in front of him, and the words 'SONGS IN PROGRESS' are overlaid on the image.

To Think Is To Suffer

To think is to suffer,
Too slow and too fast.
You grasp for the moment
The moment it’s passed.
You wake in a nightmare,
The hush of a blast.
Follow the prophet
Not the forecast.
Beware of your children,
The wealth you’ve amassed.
Burn down your dream house.
The foundation’s miscast.
Forgetful and mindful,
No future, no past.
To think is to suffer.
The first shall be last. 

To think is to suffer.
To laugh is to weep.
Of all that you wish for,
Ain’t nothing you keep.
To rise is to tumble.
To wake is to sleep.
From mountain to valley,
The fall can be steep
Poverty feeds you.
Luxury’s cheap.
The oceans are shallow,
The rivers too deep.
In summer or winter,
Be lions, be sheep.
To think is to suffer.
Go on, make the leap.

To think is to suffer,
Prometheus bound.
The queen’s in the dungeon.
The king’s been uncrowned.
The light in the shadows,
The silence of sound,
No doorways or windows,
No lost and no found.
The mouse eats the serpent.
The hare hunts the hound.
A bat’s in the belfry.
The spade’s in the ground.
Be loud and be quiet.
Be square in the round.
To think is to suffer.
The spool is unwound.

To think is to suffer.
To love is to hate.
To fly is to flounder.
Go crooked, go straight.
Forward and backward,
Feed back what you ate.Arrive as you’re leaving,
Too early too late.
Peace lies in danger.
It storms through your gate.
Bite off the finger
That points to your fate.
The end is beginning.
So let me restate:
To think is to suffer,
No hurry, no wait.

August 17-28, 2024; April 30, 2025

Copyright © 2025 by Michael Kim Roos