I, Hercules

I, Hercules, perform twelve labors

Monsters lurk in the depths of my backpack

fearsome beasts that must be slain

at the order of a haughty king

A stable neglected for far too long

Procrastination grows hooves and settles in

breeding a lingering stench of sloth

I must reroute whole rivers to get things done

The hydra of Lerna must be challenged as well

Slice off a head and stand triumphant

nasty fanged passages stick in the ground

but another two sprout in its place

Athena, where is your rattle?

The stymphalian birds have trapped me

a cool mire that drags me down

unable to hold the weight of work I carry

In the underworld an example can be seen

of why you should not steal Persephone

Theseus and Pirithious, snakes coiled around their legs

binding them in black hopeless chairs

So I carry Cerberus out of the underworld

thrashing and snarling, snapping and howling

and set him down before the king

I am rewarded with immortality