Excellent Satire

My good friend Brad, who I think I have known forever, or at least most of the time I have been stationed in Germany sent me the following – written in one of those interminable staff meetings that the Pentagon is famous for. With his permission.

With apologies to E. A. Poe, Esq. –  Brad Harper –

Once upon a staff call dreary
While I sat there, weak and weary
As were discussed things which had been discussed
A multitude of times before

As I sat there, nearly napping
Suddenly there came a clapping
Like the sound of waves a-lapping
‘pon some far and pleasant shore

‘Tis the ending of the meeting!
That for which I’d so yearned for!
But no, ’twas but the 3rd of 30 briefers
Sitting down, and nothing more

Like the Red Queen, ever sprinting
No matter how hard we onwards bore
At the end of all our labors
No more closer, than before

As a swimmer ever striving
T’wards some near enticing shore
The tide would ceaslessly pull backwards
No more closer than before

Will this torment be unending?
why is every brief a bore?
Is my sentence so unbending.
I am not allowed to snore?

When at last the meeting’s ended
Headlong rush I out the door
But even as I flee, a’gowning
There is a future dread that’s sure

For my glee so freshly minted
“tis but the fleeting joy D’Jour
In two weeks my fate decrees that
I’ll be back again, for more

(and please give Brad Harper credit and link back to here – if you quote, etc, his excellent take off on The Raven)

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9 Responses to Excellent Satire

  1. Brad says:

    Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
    Caveats: NONE

    I was sitting next to the chaplain at these meetings. Each of us had about 30 seconds at the end of a bi-weekly roughly 3 hour meeting with the COSCOM CG at Ft Lee. He nearly fell out of his chair when I slipped it to him. 🙂

    BAD Dr!

  2. Alison says:

    Quoth the Raven, Never more, no, no, not another meeting!

    Loved it. He did a great job.

  3. Lynne says:

    I love it! Glad something worthwhile came out of THAT briefing anyway…

  4. Angeluna says:

    Smirk! Giggle! LOVE.

  5. Isobel says:

    Very clever.

  6. Helen says:

    Very good. He has captured 90% of other people’s feelings has he not?

  7. Helen says:

    You make me very glad I work part time in a very small office with only
    bimonthly compliance meetings.

  8. Berg says:

    Must have been a long meeting…lol

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