If you're in a bar and a drink should purloin,
Then join me in raising your voice and your flask
And toast to a legend: a Bard with some coin -
That could well be yours if you just do a task.

He might have you listen on gossip one day,
And then, come the next week, you're hauling manure,
But mostly you'll learn of the sinking dismay
Induced when you must rag and bucket procure,

Because through the streets of the Empire you'll roam,
Inspecting each statue with care and intent -
For should you miss one speck of dirt in the gloam
Your time will be wasted, and you will lament.

Haratos! We scrub and we scrub without end,
Yet just one more pass and our spirits will break!
A legend and Master you are, and a friend:
Our moods are as grey as the waste in the lake.



Penned by my hand on Closday, the 24th of Lleian, in the year 510 MA.