A Man Asked His Soul

A man asked his soul this question:
"How shall I use my mind?"
And his soul answered,

"Never turn it against life.
Let no analysis pare away
the body’s simple pleasure:

the tastes of wine and honey,
an enthusisam for lilacs,
the touch of comfort

that comes like grace
from the naked skin
of your beloved’s body;

a gift as varied
and ungraspable
as the surface of the ocean."