Saturday, January 18, 2020

The Craven: a view in verse



The Craven

Suddenly I heard a rapping,
Rapping at my office door,
And a curious sound a-slopping--
Quoth a cleaner I'd seen before:
“May I mop your office floor?”

But it wasn’t only mopping,
Mopping in the hallway floor:
What I’d heard was mapping, mapping,
Searching for the Patent d’Or:
Fervent, furtive secrets sure!

This lab, that lab, all a-mapping,
Mapping behind tight-shut doors;
Funds from other projects sapping,
Fiscal grabbing, resource hoards,
Ever angling yet for more!

Through the keyhole, deftly peering
Peering at what labs aren’t for:
Scientists, their red eyes tearing,
Working endless hours more:
To claim now what’s not yet clear.

So they needn’t be a-fearing
Fearing loss of patents’ lure,
Belaboring the staff so bleary,
Quoth the craven: “I want more!"

But lo! Is this what schools are for?


(Acknowledgment, of course, to Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven)


1 comment:

Holly Dunsworth said...

It's macabre to say so but I love this.