Prescription for an Unwanted Longing

Banish it:
"No Vacancy" signs and locks on the doors
Guards at the entrances,
 blocking out more

               longings.

Indulge it:

With rich fatty foods

and deep crimson wines,

warmth that touches the stomach-less pit

of the soul of the 

              longing.

Explore it:

Dig through the mud

to the root of the thing

just to see where it comes from,

and then see what it bring,

what it can produce.

Take a taste of the fruit made from

             longing.

Destroy it:

Cut the trunk down

to a fat wooden nub,

and then dig with a shovel

and every root snub

from its home in the soil,

oh - but it's not dead enough,

so you bring out the matches 

and burn the thing up!

Burn all the leaves!

Let the flames scorch the ground!

Burn the whole city!

Set fire to town!

the town -

built out of boards made from

            longing.

- gone

is it gone?

gone like the 

           longing -

to try to do something

for a longing that lasts 

that will not be banished

that puts up a fight -

that cannot be indulged

that warms to no wine, 

that cannot be explored 

or picked from a vine

that will not be destroyed

that's too rooted to weed -

oh

but if minds were like soil and longings

like seeds