New poem: "In Memory of George Steiner"

In Memory of George Steiner

The brilliant polyglot stretched his mind

to its limits and was benumbed by the

dilemma of man’s duel nature, praising

Proust for his Remembrance of Things

Past while reproving him for his private

proclivities, and with a melancholy too

mournful for tears he resigned himself to

never knowing the why of man’s being

and no-being, and with humility and pride

I smiled to myself as Eleanor Wachtel

thanked her guest, the remarkable George

Steiner, for sharing his knowledge and

wisdom on Writers & Company, because

I had resolved for myself the irresolvable

dilemma of man’s dual nature by finding

my way out of the bottomless abyss

of my own nothingness.