THUS JOKED ZARATHUSTRA
THUS joked zarathustra! i heard his laughter
& spoke in mirth: all my choked feelings are
grown from mad birdseeds of joy but if once
in a while my seeming grief belies my smile,
let none lament my ill-being... O grave one!
how seriously you believe that the true test
of truth becomes the jester's tragedy forsooth
- which happily is but the remedy for insanity
while inanity is truly no terribler a disease than
the troubled unease it causes among fools (for
whom homemade trapdoors tremble in the
event of hazardous pursuit - and eternally
threaten to remain mysteriously SHUT!
1971