Showing posts with label Prodigal Son Thomas Hart Benton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prodigal Son Thomas Hart Benton. Show all posts

Monday, April 1, 2013

Prodigal Son (Thomas Hart Benton)

















#112

I've heard we regret most the undone thing.
Well, I've done it all, I just couldn't do it here.
Now I've come home to find there is nothing
But broken shadows and a skull's blind leer.
I once stroked thighs beneath a red silk skirt,
And drew a straight flush to win twenty grand.
I shot a man and watched his blood stain dirt,
Slipped a diamond into his widow's hand.
I've been chased, jailed, raped, and paroled,
And after all these years came home to be consoled.
The Bible says that I shall be embraced --
By the collapse of our home's rotting shell.
No soul remains to absolve my disgrace.
Regret is a corpse poisoning the well.