"Outstanding!" (8 ironic epigrams) [dohas]

Day follows day in sequence
night follows night in order
scarcely I grasp a pittance
isn't life covert murder?

Failing to marshall efforts
lacking good sense and wisdom
showing nor worldly profits
niether the depth of is-dom

"Even to reach that tree branch
seems quite a feat!" the dove quips
"Right!" the cicada laments
"What's with those cosmic joy trips?"

Summer at length brings autumn
winter in turn shall follow
who can tell top from bottom?
no one knows full from hollow!

Though I've ideas for action
chaos impedes their landing
everything stays sheer fiction
irony laughs "outstanding!"

Even the great make errors
even the keen have blindspots
all may resort to prayers
playwrights enjoy entwined plots

Even with imperfections
honest and patient striving
leads to serene reflections
even if short of thriving

Comedy blooms in trouble
howlers are born with hazard
"sorry to pop your bubble!"
murmurs the desert buzzard



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the 3rd verse alludes to Zhuang-zi's story of the mighty mythical bird called Peng (who rises to a hight of 90 leagues before fully spreading his wings; then he heads toward the distant southern ocean) --

A cicada and a young dove laughed, saying, "Now, when I fly with all my might, 'tis as much as I can do to get from tree to tree. And sometimes I do not reach, but fall to the ground midway. What then can be the use of going up ninety thousand li to start for the south?"

-- from "A Happy Excursion"