N a p a l m H e a l t h S p a : R e p o r t 2 0 1 2

RANDY ROARK

Henry VI, Part III (1590-1591)

But … we saw our sunshine made thy spring
And that thy summer bred us no increase…. II.ii.163-164

As a swan, evenly matched,
swims against the current,
neither conquered nor conqueror,

the inevitability of losing,
in the days, months, years
I have left of what this is.

Even a marble hand
wears out after almost
sixty years of rain.

All the hours I’ve spent
on a body of work, that’s
now the shadow of a life,

that will be crossed-out
by whatever comes next,
not even slowing the tide.

[Excerpt from The Shakespeare Poems.]