Kenneth Fearing

X Minus X

Even when your friend, the radio, is still; even when her dream,
           the magazine, is finished; even when his life, the ticker, is
           silent; even when their destiny, the boulevard, is bare;
And after that paradise, the dance-hall, is closed; after that the-
           ater, the clinic, is dark,

Still there will be your desire, and hers, and his hopes and 

           theirs,
Your laughter, their laughter,
Your curse and his curse, her reward and their reward, their
           dismay and his dismay and her dismay and yours--

Even when your enemy, the collector, is dead; even when   

           your counsellor, the salesman is sleeping; even when your
           sweetheart, the movie queen, has spoken; even when your
           friend, the magnate, is gone.

--Kenneth Fearing

fr. New and Selected Poems
[Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1956]

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