Sisyphus
a mirror cinquain

Uphill...
the long, deep push
against a weight of stone
until...the steep, quick tumbled roll--
downhill

The end
of hope...is never what it seemed--
men lose and gain in war
a prize not planned
but then...

by Debra Woolard Bender
August 19, 2001

The second half of the mirror cinquain is composed from lines of a villanelle, "War of Dreams" by the author.