I spent all day with wrinkled brow
And back hunched up with stress.
The weight of worry pressing down
Beneath a giant press.

It squashed me into far retreat,
Oppressed my weary head.
I drown myself in hoppy beer
And slumped down in my bed.

From boiling pan to blazing fire:
Sadly dehydrated.
Blandly regurgitating bile,
Hollowed out, unsated.

A rifle-shot into my brain
Will stop that thumping hammer
And chisel chambered exit lane
To cease the voiding clamour.

I place the muzzle under chin
And pull that hungry trigger.
I feel the click, expect the din,
But only get a snigger.

I fear that fate is laughing loud
Into my gurning face
And pride is slapping me unbowed
Into a darker place.

Next time I'll use a safer route
To end my suffering.
I'll hang myself with sturdy noose
Coiled up in shuffling.

---

M. C. Escher, Dutch graphic artist, was born today in 1898.

Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer, pianist and conductor, was born today in 1882.