blame dull fate

where no one sits there’s no reason to wait

yet there are many who with sharp regard

look in the distance with eyes that are hard

to see what they can measure of the gait

or bearing of the folk whose heavy freight

will end like all things in the somber yard

together with the honest and disbarred

and all that we can do is blame dull fate

our vision does not fail yet when we glance

outside the window matters not so bold

will move us not to hope but unto ire

for what we know seems ruled by evil chance

while brilliant sunshine does nothing to cold

since long ago each chose to bank the fire

hardly a storm

your choices come down fast to none at all

an echo of the truth is no reward

since none will hear you if you have to call

out through the darkness that shall swiftly fall

when hope and vengeance reach their first accord

your choices come down fast to none at all

a world once large has rapidly grown small

and all good options have gone by the board

since none will hear you if you have to call

so half the planet listens to this brawl

while all the others look away quite bored

your choices come down fast to none at all

you've lost the plot been cast beyond the wall

finding out now just what you had deplored

since none will hear you if you have to call

in utter silence you confront the squall

with all the energy you can afford

your choices come down fast to none at all

since none will hear you if you have to call

uncertain of the cure

all that we know is measured in degrees

of silence or of truth that we declare

not loudly but most firmly into air

that has been purified by these dark trees

standing impassive in the midday breeze

while we afflicted by most reasoned fear

are not so hopeful that we’ll choose to dare

go through the woods to face the heat or freeze

no options are so good are purest chance

but all our wishes end up just as vain

as when we started so we must endure

let other figures enter in the dance

hope for the sun but buck up under rain

and face each ill uncertain of the cure

dead leaves

dead leaves piled up in the slow steady rain

their reds and yellows dull on the dark ground

so much of sorrow is already plain

to us who listen as the boughs complain

at the winds passage with a sighing sound

dead leaves piled up in the slow steady rain

are one more sign of life's passing campaign

against eternity this is one round

so much of sorrow is already plain

and we're the losers since we never gain

a single inch nor hope for a rebound

dead leaves piled up in the slow steady rain

are but the markers of our lost terrain

someone will come and heap them in a mound

so much of sorrow is already plain

it is reality nothing arcane

our normal vista not a thing profound

dead leaves piled up in the slow steady rain

so much of sorrow is already plain

the serpent and the eft

when all the wars have ended we're bereft

of home and hope but have not yet been killed

so we construct a life from what is left

the new beginnings truly have no heft

all springs of old revival had been stilled

when all the wars have ended we're bereft

pained by misfortunes by our failures cleft

none can be certain of the truly willed

so we construct a life from what is left

of the old world knowing full well the deft

conversion to the new won't be distilled

when all the wars have ended we're bereft

of wisdom but we fear no further theft

our knowledge and our sorrow both fulfilled

so we construct a life from what is left

while in the dust the serpent and the eft

conduct their searches we must turn to build

when all the wars have ended we're bereft

so we construct a life from what is left

as we climb the road

let us recall  the best effects of style

when those who listen know how best to hear

and do not injure those who hold most dear

the hidden blessings of the final mile

rather they wish the urgent to beguile

expecting that the best might engineer

sounds that will please the most discerning ear

and lead once drooping eyes to shine and smile

the age of wonder has no fixed return

but comes upon us as we seem to find

not a changed world but a remarked abode

the home that we have loved for which we yearn

that seemed so hidden for time out of mind

appear before us as we climb the road

burden of the dark

with what fresh words of choice or soft regret

are we to fight our battles now that time

has tolled against us the dull weight of grime

obscures our vision but no sort of debt

to past or future could hurt or abet

the heart of purpose as we seek to climb

beyond this moment past the normal slime

where there is neither  injury nor fret

you see us crawling searching for one spark

of ordinary kindness that might lead

the normal person from their weary plight

relieve our hearts from burden of the dark

reward with honour the most worthy deed

and grant assurance of a renewed light

counting no cost

in the beginning we counted no cost

but went rejoicing into the warm rain

so now more grimly we face what we've lost

so many choices into the mix tossed

almost at random it all seemed so plain

in the beginning we counted no cost

as being worth waiting no text was glossed

for hidden messages all was just gain

so now more grimly we face what we've lost

a world more troubled a future star-crossed

no brilliant thoughts emerging from each brain

in the beginning we counted no cost

instead we are the ones who now are bossed

ordered about and marked with a sad stain

so now more grimly we face what we've lost

knowing that morning will see the first frost

that signals a new winter with its pain

in the beginning we counted no cost

so now more grimly we face what we've lost

one more human deed

we  fear to echo what the sunlight speaks

in voices that cannot be raised too loud

for fear we might stand out within the crowd

or be admonished as monsters or freaks

so we are silent do not strain our breeks

in the assurance we will not be proud

of course or carriage nothing is allowed

to harm the tenor of our days and weeks

for normal passage this might be enough

but more is needed when we have to find

the kind of courage that you only need

when life has taken all your other stuff

and you’ve been drive mad as well as blind

yet have a chance for one more human deed

the making of good luck

beneath the cloud is clarity of sight

where choices made do not entail regret

but only wistfulness that we have set

our hopes too high as swiftly-coming night

will end the journey still in our despite

there's magic against which we may not bet

so each must laugh while all the foolish fret

for there's still someone who can make all right

not for us here the option to renew

all the old answers that no longer serve

to cover up what must now be made plain

those monstrous forms that we refuse to view

or the old houses just around the curve

where we used to take shelter from the rain

all work or play

before we cut the cord there is some time

to know the places where all choice is plain

and there is neither complete loss or gain

nor any hiding underneath the grime

for anyone the world is in its prime

we find it easy to remove each stain

nor is it hard to to show or to explain

the value given to each song or chime

while each one waits to hear just how the day

will be reported by the wisest folk

we will not rush unseeing  to remark

upon the rules that bound all work or play

nor those we take to be some kind of joke

that leave  us gasping at return of dark

this moment is no lie

now tell me that this moment is no lie

we mean to go one just as we began

to measure all the world within one eye

so that this magic will not make you cry

allow each of us to fulfill the plan

now tell me that this moment is no lie

since you have gained the trust and will not cry

for any reason there's a way to span

to measure all the world within one eye

we have been gifted with this will to try

for other countries where there is no ban

now tell me that this moment is no lie

that honour rises in the summer sky

with all the goodliness that we may scan

to measure all the world within one eye

in order that each heart may learn to fly

beyond the places where our feet first ran

now tell me that this moment is no lie

to measure all the world within one eye

the test

from shadow into shadow there's no need

to measure honour nor to mete out pain

through the sad morning for each must abstain

from that fierce propaganda of the deed

which was by action of straight force decreed

since all the nature of this world's made plain

and we learn both the cure and the heart's bane

what makes us whole and what will make us bleed

truth does not give the agent much real choice

you get to act since there's nowhere to rest

this side of death that is the one sure fact

instead you have to give justice a voice

face the rough world and submit to the test

just hoping to get all the way intact