30 April 2012

no bounds to honour


no bounds to honour yet the unjust lie
faster than lightning reaches for each throat
enforcing silence there's a bitter note
we can detect even when on the fly
a universe of difference going by
while on one side are those eager to gloat
over the losers in the daily vote
our only option here seems rather dry
what has been paid does not in full restore
the world we had but what we tell each child
will matter in the end since their delight
in the large world will become so much more
absorb the truth and gather in the wild
on that fine day when their strong hearts take flight

27 April 2012

the end of pride


i wrote the words and sent them on their way
not knowing how each reader understood
just what was meant nor whether any good
would come from what was simple dance and play
of thought and vision now the options sway
between the meadow and the darkling wood
and we are trapped right where the choices could
not be more difficult on the worst day
what's said can be repaired but what is made
is fixed within the world once and for all
to be acknowledged  or to be denied
that is the problem puts us in the shade
leaves us exhausted makes us want to bawl
and in the end will take away our pride

25 April 2012

now the news


fallen from glory the world now turns drab
so easily a single dullish cloud
before the sun and all brightness is cowed
without resistance we can never grab
the moment back it's cast upon the slab
and we are from all justice disendowed
who were not long ago happy and proud
but now have come to the realm of the crab
the world is many things other than fair
since what we have we always have to earn
on terms that change each day and are not right
when most we want the best of things to dare
but never mind all that is good must burn
and from the fire we gain a better light

21 April 2012

it must be said


none of it matters but it must be said
while we have breath to speak and time to cry
since in the end we can't give in to dread

choice is not easy once we're out of bed
facing the truth and under every eye
none of it matters but it must be said

not just to you but to the ones who sped
away so fast who feared the cloudy sky
since in the end we can't give in to dread

we wait the storm knowing what lies ahead
is no wise worse that what has now gone by
none of it matters but it must be said

in plainest words and set down in black lead
for all to see and for none to deny
since in the end we can't give in to dread

and none can take the duty in our stead
nor be in place when our turn comes to die
none of it matters but it must be said
since in the end we can't give in to dread

17 April 2012

what is human


there's no sense in the judgment that we make
concerning all the tricks of the old trade
nor in belief that turns out to be fake
in all those things that are fated to fade
the world is as it is and what must come
is less not more than what we'd thought the sum
of what we earn in simple steady pay
but given to us with little delay
we're far too eager and give in to haste
the infant mind attains its highest sway
so what is human ends up most abased

our duty never got an honest shake
but found its honour hidden in the shade
while we were learning good things by mistake
and wondering why none came by to aid
for our relief we did not earn a crumb
while happy others made off with the plum
meanwhile the foolish urged us just to pray
as if that answer were more than cliché
while our best efforts had to be replaced
and matters finished in another way
so what is human ends up most abased

the truth is clear we could not get a break
from anybody here the whole charade
was guaranteed  to maximise their take
and in the process our spirits abrade
dumping us all down in the meanest slum
because we were so obviously dumb
we were served up upon a silver tray
trapped and devoured to our immense dismay
our skills dismissed and all of us disgraced
moulded and shaped just like the softest clay
so what is human ends up most abased

prince you observe as we suffer this day
ordering whips our tender backs to flay
you think this moment easily erased
yours is the power and the word today
so what is human ends up most abased

16 April 2012

the normal decent heart


rage overflows the normal decent heart
breaking  the rule of ordinary mind
to take us right back to a sorry start

where we are governed by no common art
of ancient orders that were never kind
rage overflows the normal decent heart

once each has learnt that justice will depart
with no conclusion save the one designed
to take us right back to a sorry start

ensuring that  all of our limbs will smart
while we'll be stuck more deeply in the bind
rage overflows the normal decent heart

while all the  good and kindly fall apart
and the best choices have now been declined
to take us right back to a sorry start

where those who gather do not give a fart
for what should matter and the world seems blind
rage overflows the normal decent heart
to take us right back to a sorry start

13 April 2012

so many failings


there are so many failings but the one
that most we fear will come to us so fast
it will not truly matter we will cast
away anger and hope then face the sun
one final time knowing the course is done
all dues are paid and all pain in the past
where it belongs nothing left but one blast
of rage or vision to pay for the run
so is it set in the soft human mud
that we call history shaped by the tide
of shallow seas that will all marks erase
and take away as well the taint of blood
letting forgetfulness replace all pride
and a calm vista do instead of praise

10 April 2012

that is my story


no time to change from what i used to be
but now and when it happens i must leave
not just this place but all that i conceive
to be in tune with senses that agree
in total beauty that we all can see
in that one moment when we cease to grieve
for all our losses that i must believe
will become true for what is the new me
we fall into the silence one by one
who were a certain band and knew our way
in the strong moment of unpolished youth
but there's still light the time is far from done
and there is much to do while it is day
that is my story and it is the truth

08 April 2012

unravelled myth


what's real and true of all the stuff we learn
throughout each life is given extra sheen
by honest labour it will never burn

the deeper vision that permits a turn
towards an understanding of the seen
what's real and true of all the stuff we learn

both in and out of school is the concern
for honest dealing which becomes so keen
by honest labour it will never burn

our hands but lead us rather to discern
the better way by which to intervene
what's real and true of all the stuff we learn

reminds us of the need for what we earn
not just for us but those in the machine
by honest labour it will never burn

the ones who cry and those who only yearn
for what is not and what has never been
what's real and true of all the stuff we learn
by honest labour it will never burn

06 April 2012

a fact of growth


the maples out in front are now in leaf
they're always late only the top is green
below they've budded with a reddish sheen
but all i know's the sight gives me relief
once more we're past the season of slow grief
and watch as down the street the youngsters preen
in repetition of an ancient scene
knowing the heat of summer won't be brief
what's left inside must still be given voice
to sing of what has been and what must come
that's honest truth the whole and not some part
since what we do is really not our choice
but what we must add to the human sum
out of our knowledge and by gentle art

too bright a flame


such easy choices made by those still young
who do not see the meanings of each hour
but hope to be there when the green woods flower
and other words come flying off the tongue
these are triumphs all of which we've sung
before old time could our weak hearts devour
in slender hope that's we'd still have the power
that from our last reserve of pain was wrung
no other option left but truth to tell
we'd go the same dull route if given chance
to start all over and redo the game
it's not as if we play it all that well
but more that we just know only this dance
and are afraid to show too bright a flame

05 April 2012

who needs to listen


words being said in this open debate
frustrate our thought it's not that they are lies
nor traps and gluepots that we might devise
for maximum confusion of the great
and not so clever who would pass the gate
to make themselves seem honest to our eyes
for a short season till they get the prize
and can then smile unburdened by all freight
there is much honour in sticking to fact
in simple truthful measuring of all
that needs be said before the earnest crowd
but yet the ones who think silence is tact
and fail to understand the urgent call
are those with greatest need to hear things loud

03 April 2012

where light does not reach


there is a corner where light does not reach
even at noontime so we go to hide
away from where the foolish yellers preach

some days we dream of lazing on the beach
and waiting for the changing of the tide
there is a corner where light does not reach

untouched by hardness of unruly speech
where none can urge and no one can deride
away from where the foolish yellers preach

we may be safe from murderer and leech
both from the open blade and from the snide
there is a corner where light does not reach

into the silence where there is no screech
of angry voices seeking to divide
away from where the foolish yellers preach

we may be sure of what belongs to each
and how we find that only out of pride
there is a corner  where light does not reach
away from where the foolish yellers preach

02 April 2012

so brief a sport


now pink and white to trumpet urgent spring
we see these blooms that were not there last night
and hearts are gladdened by this joyful sight
such lovely touches a fine day can bring
with the whole world brought into proper swing
nature's true colours turned honestly bright
after soft rain that seemed for once just right
both mind and heart demand to shout and sing
order will pass we know but for this day
we take the kindness as a goodly gift
one all the better since it soon will pass
into oblivion as is still the way
of all those living things which move so swift
from blazing sight to underneath the grass