The Lens Grinder

There lived a man of ethics
All he said offended
His writings were forbidden
He lived by grinding lenses

The grinding destroyed his body
The living became dying
The dying could be ended
Only by compromise and lying

He declined the living
And chose the grinding
It is better to die by seeing
Than to live by dying

His life made men see
His death was not empty
His ethics live in me
His awareness—part of infinity

J. D. G.
March 1970

© John David Garcia, 1971, All rights Reserved.