I Know How It Ends

I know how it ends
I've known it from
Here
It's all very neat
And charming and sweet
And perfectly clear

I've seen it before
I'll just skip ahead
It's hard to proceed
When all that you read
You've already read

To follow the plot
You follow the trends
Whatever's been done
In Manuscript One
Is what we go through
In Manuscript Two
So why must I see
Manuscript Three?
I know how it ends!

Oh!
No!
Don't follow the rules
Don't be so routine
Don't move ahead
Like needle and thread
When you ought to careen!

There is a book inside this room
Like a bud about to bloom
And though I need it
I think it needs me more
It's a grape that's on a vine
It's a diamond in a mine
It's a masterpiece that's locked inside a drawer

And I'm the one
Who's bound to find it
I'm the publisher
Behind it
I'm the way
The thing can be itself
Searching for the one
That's shining
I'm the miner
Diamond mining
Digging through the drawer
So I can put it on the shelf!

And once it's on the shelf
It's only one degree from in your hands
And once it's in your hands
It's almost there
From hand to mind to heart
That's the pilgrimage of art
I know that I will play a part somewhere

I know how it ends
I know I'll succeed
I feel it so near
It could be right here
The next thing I read

The whole of my life
Has led to this page
What's not in the text
Is what's now and what's next
And what's waiting offstage
It's sure to show up
But when
That depends
On just how much more
Of Manuscript Four
I can survive
Until Manuscript Five
And I'm sure to hate
Six and Seven and Eight
Though they were each
Written by friends

God knows how it ever starts
But I know how it ends