Wanting Sumptuous Heavens
By Robert Bly
No one grumbles among the oyster clans,
And lobsters play their bone guitars all summer.
Only we, with our opposable thumbs, want
Heaven to be, and God to come, again.
There is no end to our grumbling; we want
Comfortable earth and sumptuous Heaven.
But the heron standing on one leg in the bog
Drinks his dark rum all day, and is content.
Copyright Credit: Robert Bly, “Wanting Sumptuous Heavens”" from The New Yorker, November 5, 2007. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Source: The New Yorker (Unpublished Collection, 2007)