Life struggles to barely survive
in bright light
the illumination it brings cannot hide
life’s own convoluted designs

Life thrives behind smoke screens
of burning dead leaves
Multiplies in dense fogs and
impenetrable mists
And richest are the muddy waters
for they breed incessantly

And yet people yearn for a sterile clarity
not knowing that nothing can ever be
pristine and alive at the same time
For even when waters run clear
there are enough stones and slabs
weeds and dead plants
that can completely hide
the ceaseless evolution
of insidious decay