plain geometry

if we could measure one side of a life
and find the square and take the angle right
we would not then have found the human plight
nor all the reasons for our pain and strife
nor yet just why we are with anger rife
all we would do without much true insight
is draw a simple line out into light
its edge as sharp as if it were a knife
while in the happy dark so many more
less common voices each wait for a turn
and no one knows just how to take the sign
that is the meaning of the secret door
the worth of which no one can truly earn
unless they have been taught to draw the line