Trilogy

The man of pride is standing with the eyes of Oedipus.
For him heaven beckons and only angels dare to weep
To see how mortal man acts out his mortal destiny
And see again the tragic circle begin its sacred beat.

     The chorus has been chosen
     The first act has now begun

Behold the man go on the stage with fire in his heart.
As he is lifted higher by the iron wheel of fate,
With gaze on far horizon, he does not see the holy joke.
This wheel will keep on turning until every man shall break.

     The chorus has now spoken,
     All the lines are plain and clear.

His doom is firmly written and he knows it underneath
But he fights against the knowledge and he keeps his fear at bay.
Yet all the while he knows that something dark awaits him there,
In the evil dream that has no end, the night that has no day.

     The chorus is triumphant,
     Their words have brought him low.

His world has cracked asunder, he hears the manic laugh.
As the potter's wheel is broken, there can be no second chance.
He will find no comfort then in the solace of remorse.
He should not have tried to spy upon the magic, Bacchic dance.

     The chorus to Colonus,
     Their dirge is growing weary.

Through sorrow and through pity our man finds the peace he craves.
For the Gods themselves decreed it thus; they bear the greater shame.     
Until every tie is severed that binds him to the wheel,
Man must pay in every coinage. There can be no other way.

     The chorus tell a third tale,
     Sung with smug and pompous spite.

Look. Brother has killed brother and within the living grave,
Now Antigone must suffer for the mother father crime.
Sons of Jason carry wedding gifts and meet Medea's knife.
Cycle follows cycle in the drunken blasphemy of time.

     The chorus end their story
     And then turn and look our way.

For our children too lie crushed beneath that bloody wheel.
We make them pay a heavy price for the things that we do wrong
And give a bitter harvest when we sow our dragon's seed.
Generation unto generation, pain and guilt go on.

     The chorus take off their masks
     And then leave the sullen stage.