Hymn to Discipline

Give me discipline and give me a discipline.
"Why restriction? Life is free
For its pleasures,
And you have your pleasures."
Is there discipline in leisure?

Yes, things are free
In their necessity -- free
To fate. A bird's is the domain of air
Which she pursues with wing
In all directions. That is an image
Of liberty. But things
Move themselves to danger without rules --
Evolution is the founder of life's laws
In every circumstance.
I want that guidance and protection.

"And your pleasures? Your desires?
Can you evade them, and do you want to?
Each urge wrestles with its sweetness.
Don't you want to taste this syrup
And linger with it? We come to peace
In pleasure: the mind
Loses itself in the act,
Is not always working slantwise,
Pushes at the thing that gives."

A desire is a labor, a hard
Thing. Free me from my desires
So that I can rest, discipline.
Discipline chooses its work
And works into it. Discipline
Keeps itself moving too fast
For pleasure to gain purchase.
Discipline sweats, discipline depletes,
Disciplines uses things up
And wears them out, freeing them
For their potential --
The fulfillment of desire
Drains out of a thing, leaving it
Dirty and cold,
But discipline burns through it like a fire,
Bringing it to light and heat.