The Cinder-Path

Years upon years

Paid for in sweat

Dirty money, tainted

With blood and tears

And for many more of toil

The Lord gives us this day

Our daily bread

With a handful of soil

 

Work to live

Or live to work

The ideal is the same, a choice

By no other name

No better than a warning

To do what we’re told

And do what we tell ourselves

Then tell one another

To follow the cinder-path

To belching smoke

From the chimney of industry

The symbol of progress

The factory of earning

Or the trapdoor of death

For those who may fail

Or choose to opt-out

Life’s just too fast for you

Schnell! Schnell! Look out!

It’s written in iron above the gates of Hell

For those about to die:

“Arbeit macht frei”

 

 

Planes, trains and automobiles

Computers, telephones

Electric wires

Of mortal coils

For profit and spoils

Creation, production

And human consumption

To buy ourselves, sell ourselves

Trade ourselves debt-ward

Or loan ourselves deeds

For our handful of soil

Given by God as our daily bread

Tainted, dirty money

Paid for in sweat

With blood and tears

Years upon years

And for many more of toil

With one last sigh, I die

And wrought in iron on the gates of Heaven:

“Arbeit macht frei”

Reviews

[Crowley]

Triumphant writing, I get polar emotions when reading this because in my mind it is set with a backdrop and death and despair and hoplessness, but mostly I don't think its about the holocaust at least not at eye level. Its tempting for me to cast that judgment and look at in that light, but that is the easy way out. I like to think of it as a write about genetic vs. environmnetal ethic, and how the path has become perilously treachorus with traps of our own making. Pretty damned good s**t here my boy.....good to see you around.

[Maja]

This is a highly relevant piece. We all end up - in one way or another - slaving away until the day we die, just to get our dues. From the minute we're old enough to be asked what we want in our lives, everything we do is for us to have better lives. I will always be a big fan of your, Devons.

[Devons]

I can tolerate any kind of literary criticism so long as it's unqualified praise!
Thank you, Maja.

[Abdul Aziz]

I do not know if I am right in interpreting it this way, but I think this poem contains shades of 1984, the George Orwell novel. You depict a society in which work, rigid, mechanical work, triumphs over all other forms of human endeavour. A society in which the sole purpose of existence is to haul oneself into the grid every morning and work unappreciated, day upon day, until one dies. The sequence of images employed in this poem works very well in that regard, making one feel almost claustrophobic while reading it, the strait-jacketing by this work worshipping world felt only all too well now that it is laid bare in your poem. Superlative effort, Devons.

[Devons]

I can indeed see what you mean, and I think there will always be shades of 1984 when I use working life as a topic! "It's doing what we're told that makes us free" I remember a character saying in a Dennis Potter play. Ladles of appreciation, my friend.

[Angeliki Largatzis]

This is a very well-written piece of work.
The tone you've used is so well described, a good read :)

[Devons]

Thank you very much indeed. You can come again!

[Kristallo]

As I peruse your writings, I always find myself coming back to this one. When my father came back from one of his tours in Germany, he brought with him pictures he'd taken of the desolate remains of the death camps, he said he could almost feel the ghosts in the air. We were Jewish, so it particularly plagued our hearts... as for the writing itself, it's phenomenal, as always, I respect the amount of empathy and vivid imagery you managed to create here. Also enjoyed the way you described our capitalist push in society:

Creation, production
And human consumption
To buy ourselves, sell ourselves
Trade ourselves debt-ward
Or loan ourselves deeds
For our handful of soil
Given by God as our daily bread

Remarkable writing. There's a lesson to be found here.

[Devons]

Thank you very much. It's rather fine to discover again -at last!- someone who reads with consideration, integrity and intelligence.

[Kristallo]

Well, thank you. Your writing commands the reader to deliberate with at least some sense of integrity, or I think the subject might be lost on them. I like that you've found a way to express your creativity untethered, without allowing your intellect to get in the way of the composition, or to hinder it in some lines; which is something I have struggled with a lot... but anyway, yes.. I am fascinated by your poetry, there's a suave sort of wisdom to your words, its rough around the edges, with an unfailingly smooth delivery. I'm really into it.

[Ruth]

A slave to work...power and greed...and through all this, the trail leads to the gates...is there redemption at those gates? Ironic really!
Great to read you today love xoxo

[Poetic Beauty]

Working in a factory is a hard job and this poem give me a mental image of factories back in the 30s and 40's for some reason. A black and white photo. I makes me think of hard working me who come home covered in grim and soot from busting their asses all day long.

[Lilly]

A brilliantly written piece. I like the slight use of repetition tying the piece together from start to finish. It has been used very effectively here. I also like the tone created in this.
I have to agree with Crowley, I don't think this is about the holocaust either - though the references to it would make it seem so... I simply drew parallels with this piece and progression of society though I am certain there is much more to it than that and at a deeper level too. All I do know for certain however is that I can read this again and again as it is thought provoking and, as I said before, brilliantly written. Great work here.

[.]

well a poignant reminder of what not to do! Again you find a place within the physce which gives us something to think about..as we continue our quest for nirvana..we have now put so much emphasis on the value of money that we don't understand that succeed is measured more on self worth than monetary wealth..