a night of grading

after midnight and i can pause at last
the weight of papers paralysed the brain
i'm tired and groggy but i can refrain
from reading now that's gone into the past
i wonder at the way these words were cast
almost at random but with some real strain
intended to prove wisdom but causing pain
i feel like odysseus lashed to the mast
no matter what i think i've got the task
of reading and assigning proper worth
no simple thing with time running so short
i let myself in private drop the mask
to laugh at every cliché's monstrous birth
and wonder how they'll do in a true court