Are we there yet? . . . Are we there yet?

Coda

Dorothy Parker

There’s little in taking or giving,
  There’s little in water or wine;
This living, this living, this living
  Was never a project of mine.

 

Oh, hard is the struggle, and sparse is
  The gain of the one at the top,
For art is a form of catharsis,
  And love is a permanent flop,

 

 

 

And work is the province of cattle,
  And rest’s for a clam in a shell,

So I’m thinking of throwing the battle—
  Would you kindly direct me to hell?