A Dichotomy by Melissa Osadchuck

A Dichotomy

by Melissa Osadchuck

I felt a lonely tear today

Slipping down my cheek,

Sliding surreptitiously

As if to hide the leak;

And when I asked her why she slipped,

She didn’t wish to speak.

I felt a pleasant thought today

Lighting up my eyes,

Stretching lips from side to side

In admirable size;

But when I probed the honeyed thought

She simply smiled, all wise.

I only asked so I could find

The reason for the tear;

The reason for the pleasant thought

That smile from ear to ear

And how it was that both in peace

Could dwell together here.

So I fell silent with the two

But soon, with muffled starts,

The lonely tear and pleasant thought

Began to share their hearts;

In perfect harmony they spoke

As if they’d practiced parts:

“To feel is both the highest gift

And most enchanting pain,

And tears of sorrow and of joy

Both leave an equal stain;

Yet, though there is dichotomy

That makes a soul distraught

The chance to feel at all

Outweighs the fate of feeling naught.”