last class session

we come now to the end of an iteration
the same things done in sometimes different ways
i sit here thinking at my working station

what's happened is that i have faced frustration
but that's just how we find that the game plays
we come now to the end of an iteration

each moment's thought each valued illustration
i hope that it's not fleeting that it stays
i sit here thinking at my working station

with knowledge comes a change in situation
or that's the thing that everybody says
we come now to the end of an iteration

soon i'll have to give the final peroration
and hope that it outlives the latest craze
i sit here thinking at my working station

those who can learn in them i find salvation
the gracious purpose of these working days
we come now to the end of an iteration
i sit here thinking at my working station

the mind flies south

the clear and cloudless sky heralds the cold
but also hope and warmth within the heart
that organ which we should never let grow old
and simple beauty with an artless art
the moon that set this morning at the full
is both a goddess and a lifeless rock
each of us in our own way feels the pull
of tides that come upon us like a shock
we are the creatures of a warmer place
but bear a winter that is smooth and mild
what's needed now is a most simple grace
artless and charming like a little child
what words convey is not there when we speak
but in the silence we find what we seek

the silence of the law

something fractures when the clouds are high
the promise of the rain does not suffice
a hope for change for something that will fly
beyond the boundaries of neat and nice
the sound of aircraft passing to and fro
betokens thunder or something far worse
an uncertainty as to what is actually so
or a strong certainty which is far worse
the sharpness of the shadow tells us that
the sun is moving down its daily slope
the night will be returning and that's flat
tomorrow bears its usual freight of hope
what we will see is never really clear
but our desire is for all that's truly fair

it does not matter

marginal effects
but they have greater power
again and again

arctic winds coming
freeze in anticipation
irritating us

elementary
but there is no solution
except for despair