THE eminent Scottish psychiatrist R D Laing (1927-1989) included piano-playing and poetry-writing among his accomplishments.
Here is the fourth in his sequence of 38 Sonnets (published by Michael Joseph in 1979).
WHEN I CONSIDER WHAT YOU MEAN TO ME
When I consider what you mean to me,
It is a fact I've come to realise
That you're my closest link to paradise
Despite what wise men try to make me see.
They caution us against idolatry
And tell us that we should not jeopardise
Immortal life for anything that dies:
And not to be bemused by mere beauty.
It seems ungracious not to take delight
In day because it turns so soon to night.
Eternity is always here to stay:
It's only you and I who fade away.
You are my here and now, my present tense.
I hope you will excuse my diffidence.
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