THE PROTO-POET CROWS

        “As every day I open to the call
        Of some mysterious source, the Vatic Voice,
        Which can both liberate me and enthrall,
        I find a hopeful reason to rejoice—
        Not only for the verse that then may flow
        But for the prospect that this very Voice
        Will set the kindling in my heart aglow
        To show a vision of a higher choice,
        Revealing then a calling to pursue,
        Engaging my whole scope of aptitudes
        So when I face my end-of-life review,
        I may regale in how it all concludes.
             When my vocation is at last revealed,
             Imagine all the talents I shall wield.”

*