Of Wine and Feast

Those six down below,

Delved heads and delved feet

Make dandelions grow,

And say softly and sweet:

"Breathe deep this fine air

Eat up this fine feast

Sing loud and dance fair

Till the music has ceased!"

But I found in this cup,

With scorn and distaste

The wine had dried up,

And with worms was replaced

This promised sweet sky,

Of vermilion and pink

Acidic tears it did cry,

With venomous stink

Love's melody grand,

We sang loud and held true

But grew sour and sad,

Till the dancers withdrew

Furious, we went mad

We howled! We shrieked!

Thinking good times to be had,

But we returned sallow-cheeked

By the time we were done,

When our faces were worn

Our spirits withered and undone,

And our hearts full of scorn

We demanded the the joy,

That seemed to slip past

In this fraudulent ploy

With promise of life ever-last

And so we asked of the wise,

The noble, the purest of men

What solution to devise,

This we inquired of them:

"Of merriment and song

Of wine and of feasts

What will make us strong?

With what will our foreheads be greased?"

But they laughed, and they said

In a manner quite rough,

"Did you think you could find it,

In all of this stuff?"