"Metal"

           by Tommy Renkes

         Grand Rapids  4/15/10

Leather clad and bound for glory.

They stand in the shadows of legends

slashing out fierce licks in defiance

of authority and conventionality.

Like some ancient warriors astride

their toughened steeds, they thunder forth

from on high, preaching their gospel to

the masses spread out beneath them.

Their mighty axes cut bounds of censorship as

the power of their message rings clear,

inciting rebellion among the indoctrinated.

These iron studded martyrs, with their hair sprayed locks,

stand against the proclamations of the powers that seek

to crucify the carriers of the message and the music.

The battle waged from pulpits and platform boots.

The flames of persecution lick at steel clad feet.

Climbing higher, flames seek purchase

on the polyester blended leggings, but still

the message rings clear and strong,

erupting from amps engulfed in the conflagration

of rebellion.  The message thunders forth, and even

as the rulers of the masses seek and destroy

those who spread its magic one, by one, by one,

still does it ring true, six strings at a time,

now more powerful than the word of authority

the rebellion rises and runs over the earth like

a runaway train from its tracks.

Like the hardened steel of warriors

long past, the Metal remains

indestructible.