The engine coughs to life
As inertia gains momentum,
Its rhythmic routines combining in odd synergy
To form an ill-tuned chorus;
Sputtering its last protests,
The chorus submits itself to fate's inexorability
And begins it's work-
Its daily offering to be lain at the feet of the prosaic.
Discordantly, seditiously, a solitary voice
Solemn yet wonderfully melodic in its dissonance
Rises serenely, intoning above the chorus' complacent hum:
"Are you pleased with what you have wrought?
Do you consider your sacrifice worthy of being lain upon the altar of the most holy?"
The briefest of eternities reigns
As the silence of surprise has overwhelmed the chorus' discourse
Interrupting its cadence
Until composure's sweet rationalizations
Coax the chorus' familiar refrain yet again.
Unmuzzled, undaunted
The voice rises, soaring:
"True enough, you have tasted the salt and bile of your toils all too often already, it would seem
And bleaker still seems the wilderness into which you are beckoned-
Are not the tears of joy that you cry payment enough?
Their sustenance does not satisfy you?"
Wistfully, wearily I sigh
No, there's more work to be done here
And it's proceeding rather well, I must say-
The bars of my cell are close to completion.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Any thoughts on which title ("A Job Well Done" vs. "The Voice") you feel is more appropriate are greatly appreciated, as well as the line breaks and punctuation in the first stanza.
Thanks, Glow
[This message has been edited by glowbug (edited 26 August 2000).]
[This message has been edited by glowbug (edited 26 August 2000).]
[This message has been edited by glowbug (edited 26 August 2000).]
As inertia gains momentum,
Its rhythmic routines combining in odd synergy
To form an ill-tuned chorus;
Sputtering its last protests,
The chorus submits itself to fate's inexorability
And begins it's work-
Its daily offering to be lain at the feet of the prosaic.
Discordantly, seditiously, a solitary voice
Solemn yet wonderfully melodic in its dissonance
Rises serenely, intoning above the chorus' complacent hum:
"Are you pleased with what you have wrought?
Do you consider your sacrifice worthy of being lain upon the altar of the most holy?"
The briefest of eternities reigns
As the silence of surprise has overwhelmed the chorus' discourse
Interrupting its cadence
Until composure's sweet rationalizations
Coax the chorus' familiar refrain yet again.
Unmuzzled, undaunted
The voice rises, soaring:
"True enough, you have tasted the salt and bile of your toils all too often already, it would seem
And bleaker still seems the wilderness into which you are beckoned-
Are not the tears of joy that you cry payment enough?
Their sustenance does not satisfy you?"
Wistfully, wearily I sigh
No, there's more work to be done here
And it's proceeding rather well, I must say-
The bars of my cell are close to completion.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Any thoughts on which title ("A Job Well Done" vs. "The Voice") you feel is more appropriate are greatly appreciated, as well as the line breaks and punctuation in the first stanza.
Thanks, Glow
[This message has been edited by glowbug (edited 26 August 2000).]
[This message has been edited by glowbug (edited 26 August 2000).]
[This message has been edited by glowbug (edited 26 August 2000).]
