WAYS
The Way of the KrautsThe Way of the Yanks
Chapter 28
The way of the Krauts was an opera,
2sBig and loud and long.
3The voices were tgigantic,
4uThe words were steeped in magic,
5Orchestrated by vmachine.
6They wdared to think one opera,
7Could girdle the globe and bring,
8xOne reason and one answer,
9To a world that needs to sing.
10They deified their ytenors,
11Made zmillions play their score,
12And at the final curtain call,
13aaThey soaked the earth in gore.
14But there’s nothing wrong with opera,
15If it doesn’t go insane,
16And maybe object lessons are worth their price in pain:
17For bblimits lose their meaning,
18When all the world forgets,
19That cctimid sins and whining,
20Get gross and terrifying,
21When you mix them with ddambition,
22And play them to a nation,
23That has no fear of eereaching,
24ffWhere others merely yearn in secret shame.
25And if the Krautish opera makes you mourn for all Mankind.
26Then maybe you weren’t listening,
27When the world came on the scene,
28aAnd descended from the ceiling,
29To stop one hand from taking,
30What belongs to beveryone.
31For does it make us evil,
32That some put others to the test,
33And force the cgoodness in us,
34To prove why it is best?
35But if your goodness quails in fear,
36And doubts its strength and own resolve,
37Then you’d better talk to a dmirror,
38Before you give up on the world.
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Chapter 28 / 40