Sworn in secure direction,
The goal of military exercises,
And the fare
Of modest commandos.
The scenes play on
Depicting the rote
Of political logic,
Measuring the worth
Of the self-made academic patron.
The clerk passes communication
On from the masses
To an ultimate destination,
The sergeant at arms,
The seneschal of the arts,
The aristocrat in considerable
Circumstances,
Heir apparent
To fortune, position and authority,
Friend to the keeper of the peace.
Messages reach his view
Falling back along the route they traced,
Ineffectually pushed into oblivion,
Accomplishing nothing
For all their whiff of purpose.