Living too long exacts a painful price.

To love a fool is a misfortune, but does not make one a fool.

The lyric deals with love and sorrow, the aphorism with contradiction and deceit.

Often, when I want to consult my impulses, I cannot find them.

Great talkers do not stop for breath, and never look at the clock.

The haiku lets meaning float; the aphorism pins it down.

Now defined as art, the totem has lost cult, taboo, and custom.