Drum Roll, Please Poem by Guy Wilkes

The drum rolls and stops
And rolls again, and stops
And rolls again, and stops
And rolls again, and stops
A fate still to decide
A journey to begin
Four crucial paths lay at our feet
Two split apart, two others meet
One path that leads to pride
Another to chagrin
Our eyes don’t know which way to start
Together or apart, and still
The drum rolls and stops
And rolls again, and stops
And rolls again, and stops
And rolls again, and stops
Another war to fight
A puzzle yet to solve
What newborn horrors does he weave?
Misfortune, will you never leave?
Our patience pulling tight
Our weakening resolve
Our dual wills are powerless
Against a foe like this, and yet
The drum rolls and stops
And rolls again, and stops
And rolls again, and stops
And rolls again, and stops
A paradise to lose
A paradox to gain
All paths not chosen leave regret
And memories to ne’er forget
The time has come to choose
The sunshine or the rain
There’s nothing left to contemplate
Still all we do is wait until
The drum rolls and stops
And rolls again, and stops
And rolls again, and stops
And rolls again, and stops
No need to check the score
We’ve lost the final fight
We made our choice, we took our track
Our fate is sealed, we can’t turn back
Though triumph in the war
May not have made it right
We opted for the easy way
There’s nothing left to say except
The drum rolls and stops
And rolls again, and stops
And rolls again, and stops
And rolls again, and stops