                       Quality vs Quantity


"Everybody knows that small wineries make the best wine,"
Said a little old winemaker up Selenaloma way to himself,
"So I will make the best wine possible:
Every year I will harvest, crush, ferment, and bottle
One Perfect Grape.

Chosen from the vine most favored by sun, wind, and rain,
And given the greatest concentration of loving attention,
It will grow to greatness
Just as tinder, under sunlight concentrated by a lens
Glows into flame.

True, the fruits of my labor will not be for the masses
But then great art never is,
And surely there are a fortunate few
Ready, willing, and able to pay the price
And to fully appreciate the result."

So saying, he began to make ready.
Unfortunately, however, word leaked out
And three of his competitors,
Not to be outdone in the matter of small wineries,
Went one better
By producing
No wine at all.

                                        Tom Digby
                                        written 0035 hr 11/24/76
                                        entered          2/16/88
                                        format  1347 hr 12/22/01
