“The exile amuses himself secretly,
In thieves’ fashion,” wrote Chekhov
On Sakhalin Island. Oh, don’t we all?
Point me to the individual that never
Amuses her or himself secretly. The monk
And the nun amuse themselves secretly.
The hardworking housekeeper, the single
Mother, the politician and the celebrity
Maybe more than any one, are secretly
Amused. Thieves perhaps make the pattern
More of a mode, a passion, a fashion, but
Thieves, in this, have never been alone.
I’ll only admit the exile, driven far from home
Or from the means, at least, to try to create
A home, has more of the thief about him
Than the rest of the self-amused, more grief.
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