With lantern strung high on a pike
I searched for an Empress of poetic might

Whose symphonic verse
Both elongated and terse

Would meld all the muses into one
Beauty tipping from the tip of her tongue

Scented in roses she’d carefully grown
A flower no gardener could own

And seeing the vile and valiant in all people
Thus never seeking saviors, only equals

Awash in wisdom that attracts locusts of love
And shining nay shimmering like a lantern from above

All was peaceful in the young realm
Just and Un-just had finished erecting their epic statues
The tree of Taste had begun to bear fruit in the royal courtyard
And youthful bliss ruled over the realm,
With jewels of jubilance, adorning its crown
But from the ghetto’s rose passion and puberty
Together conspiring to rouse the masses, their words infecting,
Each sector of emotion and thought
Eventually swarming the grand palace with its paltry guards
The twin rebels lead a crazed crowd that crashed through gates
And toppled the two statues, burned the tree of taste
Finally poor, pitiful, youthful bliss was dragged from their throne
The crown jewels of jubilance replaced by emeralds of angst
And now Puberty and Passion ruled
Under new banners of maturity

Locals said it wasn’t far from here
So I track its trek by a trail of tears
And spotting it, stealthily lift my spear
Towards monstrous, mutinous, FEAR
It’s skin morphing more than vanes of weather
Being draped in every conceivable displeasure
Dwelling in women and men without distinction
Here I hunt it to extinction
It sings like swans, I’ve finished my mission
Firing off celebratory pistons
Later discovering, it was vital to my ecosystem

I saw my country growing into its prime
For I’m educated and elegant and all is fine
As I recline in cushy shoes that others shine
The view from the top is so sublime
And the fashion in season is devilishly divine
But some fools shout from time to time
Wanting us to spy the crust and grime
They are losers, for winners never whine
And I change the channel and sip on wine
For it helps me to unwind
And refocus my precious mind
On all the money I can mine
From my country growing into its prime

I saw my country crowded and crumbling
The rich ruled with rules and rumblings
Of freedom of work
Or freedom to hurt,
Environments of nature and social order
All tipping toward disorder
But among the chaos I spot some coffee and order,
It black and then scream Order!
Like a judge amongst the courtliest courts
For everything is odd and out of sorts
In my crumbling and crowded country

How I’ve trekked with muddy boots
Through superficial swamps to arrive here
Where Apollo’s apprentices laze about
Though slicked with sweat the air here is sweet
Where muses pull on poets like reigns
And all dreams and delusions are bared
And all hope and hell shines without glares
And all our secrets slither from our stoic stares
And all are cradled in a community that cares
Oh how I’ve trekked with muddy boots

A table shaped like an hour glass
Seats filled with sand moving slow and fast
A figure sits, veiled and masked
Motions me to join before I can ask
Picks up a kettle of solid brass
In cups they pour, attentive to the task
Watching, waiting, until they finish at last
I reach for my cup but it spills alarming me
For I have broken this hymn like harmony