to live with what was here

you marvel that the answer comes with haste
the magic that we look for works too slow
around our bodies we see a faint glow
the power we wield is rarely to our taste
yet once expended cannot be replaced
when given choice we never want to go
but once in the river we cannot halt the flow
our fates and actions are ever interlaced
yet when the sortilege has come unstuck
we always want to blame some vagrant mage
and not our own misuse of guile or glamour
our energies could in no way run amuck
is what we say and set down on the page
hoping in that way to avoid the fatal hammer
yet when it comes we hesitate and stammer
we want to hide and yet can't move to duck
our fear turns once more into dumb rage
we blame the fates we blame our stupid luck
we wonder just what brought us to this stage
for swift reprieve we want in vain to clamour
yet when the time comes we must truth face
we still may summon some remaining grace