Temptation I and II

      Temptation I
 
I sit, impatient, to watch
 my sole light burn
 bright, strong, above
 and wonder when
 the light will end.
 
 I think to smash the bulb
 and raise my hand yet cannot
 bear the thought of darkness;
 again I stay my hand.
 
    Temptation II
 Brightly burns my light.
   destroy the rose?
 I smile at my inertia.

POSTSCRIPT: I wrote these poems when I was in Bob Baush's class at the Northern Virginia Community College in 1985; he was teaching a Creative Writing Seminar. These are two of my poems that could be considered suicidal. At least, my Mother In Law thought they were but I don't remember them a such. (This note being re-writen on 4 December 2013.)