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.