Shut Up And Work! Poem by Michael Pruchnicki

That's what I was told in no uncertain terms!
Who do you think you are? Protest to a higher
authority if you dare! Of course, I knew better
in my heart of hearts than to quibble with GOD
about the punishment I had been assigned
for the duration plus eternity!

Some say it started in the Garden
with the flaming angel at the gate,
evicting us to a life of toil and strife!
I ain't no scholar, you see, but that
sounds plausible to me in my usual
mortal state of fear! I tremble and shake
whenever I recall that day! Oh GOD, why?

Others have concocted a tale about a guy
who messes with the high lord
of the Underworld and is punished
soon enough by the gods
who sentence him to an eternity
at hard labor! Push the boulder
up the hill! Strain and grunt as you
seek a hold on the enormous rock!
There the summit is in sight! Once more
and you....Curse it! The rock eludes him
and rolls back down the hill!

That's why when the alarm goes off,
I rise and return to the eternal tasK!