Descent into Normality

Quis te, parve liber, quis te fratribus
Subduxit reliquis dolo?
- John Milton

Once in the thicket of proverbial mire,
Among the reeds of metaphor and semiotic mud
A single verse of clear, clandestine fire
Lay hidden in the pool of verbal blood

It is not given to our adverse gender
To partake in the mystery of birth
To suffer through and finally to render
The flesh from womb, like fire from the hearth

Ours truly is the world of dim reflection,
Of shimmering homunculi in vials
Of coils of reason looped in tired erection
Of leads and slugs in neatly marching files.

A metaphoric birth of the hermetic life
A glimpse of future in a tiny drop
A dab of paint on my pallet knife
A lame attempt at very first press job.

Note on the text: This little poem was written to adorn the page of the very first letterpressed work.