Anxious work we to forstall
The plague that has made slaves of all,
Heedless of the Sabbath-call,
Bricks without straw.
Nature’s riches thus we pillage;
Widows, orphans we envisage —
Useless burdens to our village!
Bricks without straw.
Neighbors’ masks smother old trust,
Porch-door hinges turned to rust,
Hoarding food as if we must
Make bricks without straw.
Family was just nature’s flaw,
Neighbors won’t feed Egypt’s maw.
Solipsism is Pharaoh’s new law —
Bricks without straw.
Bluely gazes my reflection,
Red eyes dead to introspection,
Eighty-five-watt resurrection,
Bricks without straw.