Votive Hymn to Hermes

About two or three weeks ago, I was broke. So I decided to sell a bunch of CDs that I just had laying around. The used CD store where I shop is majorly cheap. Great when you're buying CDs, but not so good when you're trying to scrounge up gas money to get to work the next day. So, I decided to pray to Hermes, as he's the God of thieves and business transactions. (Apparently the Greeks had a hard time distinguishing between the two.) I expected to get about $40 for them, since I had a box-full. I really wanted about $100 so I'd have a little left over to hold me until payday. So that's what I prayed for, promising to buy him a caduceus necklace I'd seen at the Pagan shop, and to write a hymn for him if he met that price. Well, I hauled the CDs down there - after spending a half hour looking for my wallet [1] - and was surprised when the guy offered me $118 for them - and threw in the early David Bowie CD I wanted for free. [2] Well, I spent the next couple days tracking down the caduceus necklace, because the Pagan shop had sold out of them, but I did eventually find one. And then, well, I kind of kept putting the hymn off. I always meant to do it, of course, but I started working on other stuff instead. Stuff that fell flat, and then I got discouraged with writing. At one point, it got so bad that I'd just sit in front of the computer, staring at the blank screen, and despairing of ever writing anything more than 'the' or 'and'. Well, yesterday it dawned on me that I hadn't written the hymn I'd promised him! It was obvious: The Muses were saying, 'You owe him this, and we're not helping you till you fulfill your obligations. Now get busy!' And so I did. And here is what I wrote: Hermes Ie ie Hermes! Staves and rocks and herds of cows and herds of ghosts; Hats and boots and coins tinkling - as they fall from cut purses or from hands that have thrown bad dice Ie ie Hermes! Pens and roads and treaties and men muttering old spells under the new moon; Black earth and black night and blue eyes shining out of the shadows - as footsteps fall on wet cobbles and people hurry home Ie ie Hermes!   [1] It always disappears when I pray to Hermes. I found it when I came back, under a pile of clothes I had sifted through at least half a dozen times. [2] It had all his great Dehram recordings, including 'London Boys', 'The Rubber Band', 'Gravedigger', 'the Laughing Gnome' and an early cut of 'Space Oddity'.