... (2019 - toss up II)

I say, 

All hail those made Sisyphus -

All hail the mismatched and the lost,

The incomplete, the unaccomplished or the unfulfilled.

I say all hail the will,

Hail the introspection of the broken,

The depth of pain carried by pariahs and martyrs,

And the perseverant pull of another day, to another week, 

Another purpose for a splintered hull, the tethering of torn sails  

And the terror of taking a skeleton crewed craft away from port, 

And into the open sea.

Hail those people.

Hold them in the highest regard.

I was told once that their suffering makes them holy;

That there is sanctimony in the torturous path,

The unbalanced odds or the uneven scale, 

The Ulyssean course to Ithaca, 

The crossing of the alps

Or the long climb home from hell.

I say hail the ones who have it hard,

Hail easy's antonym,

Hail the holding of hated cards

And honor their memorandum.

Reviews

[matt black]

Wow! that was really nice. Yes! indeed all hail the King Sisyphus. flowed really well right into mine own struggles and knots untied.
m

[jacob erin-cilberto]

again, you stop and think and write about those less fortunate souls...and shoe the poet's empathy to them and with them and for them...

really good poetry from you.
j.