* * *

Futile gift, so unexpected —
Life, why were you brought to me?
Rather, why are you subjected
To a brutal penalty?

What unfriendly power brought me
Into being from nothingness,
Filled my soul with passion, wrought me
Doubts and qualms and faithlessness?

No ambitions stand before me:
Empty are my heart and mind;
And I cannot flee the torment
Of this world’s drudging grind.