Hieronymous the Romantic

Hieronymous was a hopeless romantic

Believed happiness actually existed

Sought amongst sea shells

And spent cartridges to no avail

Took up painting just for fun

But it made him sad so he stopped

Took up drinking to stop feeling sad

But it only made him sadder so he stopped

Walked amongst the people like a beggar

Only he gave his possessions away

Asking for nothing in return

Rather than asking for alms like a leper

And it made him sad so he stopped

Hieronymous thought the answer

Might lie at the centre of the earth

So he dug a deeper than deep hole

Passing others digging deeper holes

Which only made him sadder so he stopped

Perhaps he had dug at the wrong angle

So he dug deep more obliquely

Passing others digging more oblique holes

And it made him sad so he stopped

Thought sex might be the answer

So he paid the most expensive whores

To teach him the arts of love

But it made him sad so he stopped

Went on like this for years

Before he realised it was those intervals

When he wasn't looking and thinking

That he was closest to something like happiness

So he stopped

© shaun patrick green 2011