The Coin

He said, "Most music is workaday;
"Our idols, whose unique felicity
"We regard as high as immortal day
"Are but a coin drawn from the sea
"That in that day with sieve we came
"To recover a shell just the same
"It was a coin as common as can be
"We found, and raised to heaven its fame."

"They are not worth even the sweat --!
"They fetched a price; pride of eyes
"Prized them; what worth for them yet
"Is found when this truth we realize?
"Like my words they are part of our tale
"Labor has no value, memory no sale--
"Better can be had for he who buys
"Seek better; their fane shall fail."

- Ephrem Antony Gray

Be sure to visit Ephrem's site Symposium of Fire