Poem: Life and Art

Life and Art
after Cavafy

In truth, he never had the energy required
to pursue a life of pleasure.
Despite the odd chance fling
and the amount of time he spent
vividly imagining erotic encounters,
he generally preferred to pleasure himself,
thus avoiding the bother of meeting other people
and giving him time to concentrate on his art.
Now he is friendless
and has no pleasant memories to sustain him.
What’s more, his poems aren’t that good either.

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