ill fares the land

 

you counted golden the worth of your name

now see it tarnished by this acid rain

not generations will remove the stain

of knowing you thought life and death a game

worth playing just so you won greatest fame

while blood and water swirl down every drain

and soldiers’laugh at each new orphan’s pain

you speak of cities that might feel the flame

so fools cry out and call on you for aid

while skies turn darker and rivers run dry

your mighty shadow seems to many blessed

by divine power so you lead the parade

smiling as you’re the focus of each eye

ready to guide us on with massive zest

but not so eager to confront the test

at sight of hardship your star seems to fade

and calls for effort lead your force to die

we ask for help but you won’t make the grade

instead you look down from a brazen sky

as the red sun sinks into furthest west

the journey’s long the hills hard to ascend

but choosing you is something we could mend

already stars rise

when all the fires have gone at last to sleep
what we have left will be some sort of sign
between the belches of stale beer and wine
that there may be some happiness to keep
among the ones who chose to make the leap
believing that the season was divine
are those who in their wisdom might combine
the kind of energy to go down deep
within each heart we say there is a flame
that burns at different paces through the year
and gives most warmth when eyes can see most true
so much depends on saying the right name
on how the word should travel through the air
and reach the place where time must now renew
not just its purpose but the complete view
must change the wild into the truly tame
remake the dark ones into those now fair
grant wisdom fully where we would want fame
and draw the hermit out of her dank lair
to say that she regrets that she withdrew
her heart and mind from the engaging sight
of all the joy that comes on summer night

and then just vanishing

you want to see what lurks beyond the scrim
a normal thought erupting in each brain
and what is spoken can’t be shut again
you know the word illuminates the dim
turns plainest song into the deepest hymn
and lets each know just what they can attain
so much is set out on the open plain
by those who accept what is not so grim
this choice is made by one who speaks aloud
what in the silence should not have been said
to those who coming would find all set out
for those who could not bear the larger crowd
but would have wanted all the tables spread
and had their orders writ to settle doubt
that was enough to let the foolish shout
but you might not have known this being too proud
to show to those who watched the normal dread
we would not now expect to be allowed
to suffer or to be sent out instead
these are the signs as far as we can tell
that only patience ever could dispel

a kind of subversion

there is a point when we must stretch our reach
not because fruit are hanging from the tree
but simply for the sake of what we see
within our hearts for what we have to teach
this is the point of saying without much speech
just what we mean about what we must be
the words themselves enact our being free
and take us in one moment past the breach
the silence stretches till we cannot bear
the weight of all the motions we still feel
and step by step this breath turns into time
so many seconds counted out of fear
the human body seems made out of steel
and every hour turns into the prime
we name ourselves the victims of this crime
but knowing nothing have no sense of care
and are not anxious yet to make the deal
while on the sidelines all the crowd must stare
their voices roaring out in harsh appeal
demanding that the normal be sublime
this is the end of what we would not speak
the strong must bow at last to us the weak

a fractured symbol

one little moment of a rougher hue
we let the light refract and then we smile
so much the eye and mind have to beguile
this empty heart of life we bring to view
not merely in the forms of white and blue
but as we measure up and down the pile
through understanding of both skill and style
we ring the values back from false to true
all of the colours have come flooding back
after a day we spent in monochrome
yet what we have is not enough to praise
our thoughts revolve around plans of attack
not limited by the bright high blue dome
a matter now of seconds not of days
whatever happens we can never raise
eyes that are attuned only to see lack
while feet are not permitted yet to roam
to all those places within normal gaze
the ones who win will have to leave the track
not knowing how they’ll find a safer home
where weight of fortune cannot force a way
such quiet messengers have much to say

no random vagrant noise

a kind of freedom which no one could name
beyond the limits of our common day
choices are made about a life of play
while round about others construct a frame
of honour duty service and acclaim
no sun may set in that new western bay
until the youngest folk have learned the way
and not a thing will then remain the same
now here and there we see another sort
whose minds and bodies take a better shape
to fill the vision and rejoice the mind
we do not take this for the long and short
until we know just who will breast the tape
and to just memory is then consigned
this is not what any would leave behind
or any signal to flee or abort
any attempt to survive or escape
the sentence of the highest human court
still we will not allow a simple scrape
to pause our plans to form the undefined
into the matter of our deepest joys
more music and no random vagrant noise

i would not ask

i would not ask for any of your gold
bad eyes are watching from surrounding heights
your safety is not certain through these nights
but wait the story still has to unfold
in ways that others deem most uncontrolled
no one you’ve met has ever known such sights
and powers unmentioned have you dead to rights
on days which warm will rapidly turn cold
as sunlight vanishes with sudden haste
and other folk rejoice to see it shine
i hear the ice start clinking in the stream
such minor tragedies most folk have faced
and do not take the weather for a sign
nor wonder at the meaning of each dream
the thunder’s presence adds to the odd gleam
electric colours you could almost taste
and untold energy throbs down the line
now such clear memories have been erased
you and i moan but we’re told things are fine
both fear and anger are marked as extreme
so we wait here earnest quiet and grave
knowing that patience by itself won’t save

i would not ask

i would not ask for any of your gold
bad eyes are watching from surrounding heights
your safety is not certain through these nights
but wait the story still has to unfold
in ways that others deem most uncontrolled
no one you’ve met has ever known such sights
and powers unmentioned have you dead to rights
on days which warm will rapidly turn cold
as sunlight vanishes with sudden haste
and other folk rejoice to see it shine
i hear the ice start clinking in the stream
such minor tragedies most folk have faced
and do not take the weather for a sign
nor wonder at the meaning of each dream
the thunder’s presence adds to the odd gleam
electric colours you could almost taste
and untold energy throbs down the line
now such clear memories have been erased
you and i moan but we’re told things are fine
both fear and anger are marked as extreme
so we wait here earnest quiet and grave
knowing that patience by itself won’t save

around the hill

around the hill there’s no sign of the work
it took to build the road and cut a trail
our efforts might a sort of choice entail
between the daylight and the clutching murk
pressure would not a patient hero irk
but none of us are swifter than a snail
still those who persevere may still prevail
if they will not their obligations shirk
voyaging out means some hope of return
still once you’ve left you can’t just go back
there are no signs that others cannot read
no worker gets the wage that he should earn
and gets the whip if he should feel the lack
such normal pleadings are described as greed
by those whose minds and bodies feel no need
of basic sustenance still if we turn
our faces outward and make the right tack
we find ourselves obliged soon to concede
that with fond memories our minds still burn
not one thought comes that permits some slack
since on our own hearts we’re required to feed
and so we find our way back to the place
to seek recall in every friendly face

upon the coldest peak

there is no safety of that we must warn
the vast majority who know no fact
that can be taught we will not here extract
from you or anyone just what was sworn
by those whose hearts and kidneys have been torn
on highest slopes we see the titan racked
who by the divine vulture has been tracked
whiles muses speak to those as yet unborn
a tyrant would not leave the hero bound
for any rescue by heroic sort
but strike him down and slay him out of hand
the story we’ve been told turns out unsound
lacking sufficient proof to stand in court
the message we have heard is not so grand
though having heard it we can’t understand
why we don’t swiftly surely go to ground
seeking firm refuge in a secure fort
still we’ve been tracked by no gigantic hound
upon the peak we will not be caught short
but held together in a warrior band
we know that we have not come to the end
allowing us to know our truest friend