“All right T.S.” I said “I’ve had my fill of this
I’ve gone as far as I want to go
I can’t really see what the point is”
We stood at the top of a sort of coliseum below
us sloped steps and ditches
Filled with another mighty army of woe
“Look at them racing in circles lashed with switches
by the demon hordes
Look a them cursed with boils and itches
Swatting at their wounds scrambling towards
the finish line that will never appear
they’ll strain but never break the cords
That tie them and hold them here
But from what I can see
The difference between this and what’s upstairs is unclear
I’ve been in the pit often enough and I’ll be
in that pit again I am sure
I’ve run the rat race I’ve yearned to be free
I’ve searched for the answers begged for a cure
I’ve been in the shit up to my neck
I’ve fallen for hell’s shiny bobbing lure
So tell my poet when I cash my check
am I gonna end up pushing the stone
Am I supposed to get the fear on this trek
And slobber and wag when he throws me a bone
And pats me on the head like a good dog
Will I be so relieved to be outta the danger zone
That I’ll be happy and content in my slog
Up the mountain of resistance
The endless adversity I flog
My way through without assistance
Man standin’ here I feel right at home
They may be damned but damn if they don’t have persistence”
And Eliot said “kid your mouth is starting to foam
so why don’t you climb down off the horse
This is hell this is not some poem
You have a job and your job is to follow your course
And see what you see there
What you will not accept you cannot take by force
It’s not your place to care
For the final meaning
You won’t find any more of that here than anywhere
You’ll spend a long while figuring out what you’re gleaning
here, so watch where your sentiments are leaning”
This song is part of a series loosely based on Dante's Inferno. You can read an essay about this series here. You can read a more general explanation of the origin of these lyrics here
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