This candle, dear Muse, I light in our name:
Clio the heroic, who sings with her pen.
Grant me a song, Muse, a story to tame,
Lend my keyboard your voice, as you have to great men.
Let me try just once more to create a great work,
An epic, elusive and mighty and sung,
A song for a hero, both action and quirk,
When that duel starts at sunrise, I'll know I have won.
For the songs that I'll sing as the Fortune Cup rages,
Far long after Jaden grew into his power,
Hark back to more classic, though unearthly, stages:
The late steel needle, proud KaibaCorp Tower.
Let me sing of that dynamite four-way dynamic,
Each man for himself and the risks all his own,
Yugi v. Joey v. Kaiba v. Marik,
As teacher must let student step up alone.
Then rocket me swift to the top of the spire,
Then let deadly shadows surround me like mist;
Show me a monster made purely of fire,
Sing me the love with the nerve to resist.
Let's sing of the sorrow and sing of the fear,
Sing all the poignance of courage's fall,
And sing all the reasons we must persevere
When things seem to be at the darkest of all.
Sing of the Necklace's strengthening glow,
And chant for the challenge, chant for the pride,
Chant for the duel five millen'ia ago,
And chant that two gods and two rivals collide.
Whisper me anguish for Mokuba's heart,
Astonishment also, for Marik's bad half,
Murmur me friends that are never apart,
And a fanfare for destiny's conquering path.
Sound harsh in my ears the battle of wills,
Hear a snicker respond to a shout of proud rage,
Let good face down evil; you know the drill,
And good vanquish evil, not 'til the last page.
Drum me the fate of that sky-reaching place,
Paint me a sunset, goodbyes, and a car;
A sunrise, some flashbacks, a cat; face-to-face,
The end of the battle, more epic by far.
Let's sing them all that, you and me, partners now,
For it's no real war but it speaks to the heart.
Just lend me the insight to figure out how
To deftly and beautifully write every part.

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Background:

I've been trying to write an epic for a long time now, and as the first few lines imply, this is not my first attempt. It's my favorite so far, though. The first time I tried to write an epic, I did actually light a candle; I think it helped. Clio, my namesake, is the greek muse of history and heroic deeds, and one of the same muses the more well-known epics invoke. I plan to follow all of the sorts of traditions that define epics; beginning 'in media res', in the middle of the action, epithets to describe characters, a huge long list somewhere, I've already got my invocation of the muse and my introduction to what-all will be told of in my epic. It's one of those long ongoing projects.