(This is the poem Sam gives Judy to read in episode #15, "The Mystery Dance")

From SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY
by Edgar Lee Masters

"George Gray"

I have studied many times,
The marble which was chisled for me,
A boat with a furled sail, at rest in a harbour.

In truth, it pictures not my destination
But my life.

For love was offered me,
And I shrank from its disillusionment.

Sorrow knocked at my door,
But I was afraid.

Ambition called to me,
But I dreaded the chances.

Yet all the while I hungered
For meaning in my life

And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.

To put meaning in one's life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is the torture
Of restlessness and vague desire.

It is a boat
longing for the sea
and yet afraid.