Perfection

Le’Carre’s mercenary
Captain declares
He is what he is,
A killer beast,
So are we all with
Varying degrees of
A veneer of civilization.
I always told my students
I was an ignorant man,
I knew almost nothing
About almost everything.
You called me erudite,
I thought of Snuffy Smif
In his cartoon red long johns,
Who when asked if they
Were not too warm for summer
Replied areodightly that
He just let down the
Front and back flaps for
Cross ventilation.
That’s erudite.
Do not worry about
Appearing perfect,
Only God,
The universe,
Is perfect.
That web of gravity is
Aware of even a sparrow’s fall,
And operates based on flaws
That either fail or
Work even better.
Hence, ourselves,
A work in progress striving for
But unable to achieve
Perfection in this
Particular
Life.