Schopenhauer emphasized

the worminess of apples,

he propounds through

clenched teeth dogmatically.

That is how it goes

with pessimistic folk--

they bear a weighty yoke

compelling their own misery.

It isn't true, he tells me,

that optimism flourishes

best in lunatic asylum

and within an addled brain.

We hear the tattoo of rain

drumming on the window pane--

and in its cool indifference

we imagine we are sane.

William Dauenhauer