Thursday, June 16, 2011

Do waterfalls prove the river took the wrong path
or does the river fall victim to a declining terrain?


The Bailout

The shepherd’s men
culled the flock,
one in five
and they feasted
on mutton divine,
stuffing themselves
for all was fine.

Feast after feast
the sheep soon gone.
The men panicked,
sang a woeful song.

Cried to the shepherd
give us more sheep.
He agreed and left.
The men fell asleep.

Woke the next morning
claiming a recovery.
Prided themselves
in their victory

and to celebrate
another culling was done.
The feast began
at the setting sun.


by Dave Holloway


11 comments:

  1. My favorite part is the epigram that opens it--thought provoking!

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  2. and to celebrate
    another culling was done.
    The feast began
    at the setting sun.


    love the ending, the whole piece is well done.
    Happy Rally.

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  3. This is has such a nice rhythm to it and the topic is very unique. Beautiful first paragraph

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  4. This is well written. made me think of the movie too big to fail about the 2008 crash.

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  5. Yes, 'too big to fail' is the abstract I'm trying to understand. Like the answer to the river question is obvious, the river is subject to the terrain but by changing a word a whole new picture is perceived and I think that's what 'too big to fail' does. The universe itself probably isn't too big to fail.

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  6. so nice one...The rythm is too good.. enjoyed it...Thanks for share.

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  7. I'd like to know what happened to the shepherd.
    -
    Did the shepherd join the greedy feast
    Or wander off and die alone-
    While vulgar men grow fat and bloated
    Does his blood taint the country stone?

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  8. The shepherd went off boasting he saved the country from a depression.

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  9. Ah.....Well, a sad and a horrendous situation I would say.As heavy as the theme and the subject matter of the poem is,its amazing how lightly and casually you have brought it out.Conveys the attitudes of men towards the culling of the innocent sheep perfectly.This is brilliant :)

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