the common good

our choices come from reason not simply from rote
we're beings with minds and choices must be made
things must be bought and wages must be paid
our doings may be ordinary but still we have to note
why we have done them by what will and whose vote
the decisions are arrived at for when all has been said
it's choice and planning that will make the grade
and all our options every single case must have its coat
and under such fair cover achieve what ends it can
since nothing ever makes it to the most desired goal
but still we have to live and for that must remember
that most work's not done by those who in the van
gain the applause each part must make the whole
a single flame else we decline into a last pale ember

before morning

to know there's someone there in deepest dark
to hear the breath to feel the body's heat
these all matter and as each day we greet
each other in the morning before the early lark
has taken flight each of us sees the mark
of our affections and as we each repeat
our daily tasks the memory remains sweet
of our deepest feelings of our emotions stark
and bare before each other of the sense
that time's forgotten as long as each is here
the warmth enfolds us holds each in their place
together alone there's no need for pretence
of anything but truth there's never fear
instead the air is immanent with grace

the art of conquest

who giving names would think before to ask
whether the name's appropriate or desired
instead the namer finds their purpose mired
in talk of politics and while he'd rather bask
in the glory of dicovery the need to do the task
makes it imperative that every person hired
and every place that's found be properly attired
in definitive nomenclature for that's the mask
that power gives itself the naming of parts
and wholes and people places things that skill
marks off the ruler from the ruled and gives
raw muscle and hot guns the aura of fine arts
it does not matter how many folk they kill
so long the remnant obeys while yet it lives

the last bright glow

if there were light to illuminate our hearts
what would we find and would its name
be one that could be uttered without shame
or would we hurl at it the swiftest darts
that we could create by alchemic arts
if only so we could avoid the blame
that would accrue if then we did not tame
our shades and spirits in their proper parts
to do obeisance to the final master
of all our doings the one who just commands
and sees it done the way that seems most right
although it leads us only to disaster
we each of us must take our proper stands
and wait with patience for the fall of night

not quite ronsard

when you are old and under the fluorescent light
you tell the tale of all those long-gone days
you'll say as you recite my half-forgotten lays
once i was loved by a young poet bright
but no one hears in that late conquered night
who knows my name it seems almost a craze
for the old to remember their friends with praise
but you should not go down without a fight
rather you had when time and chances were
have seized the moment and taken the love
then offered and not affected the pose
of arrogant disdain that was then your year
you could have been the sweetest cooing dove
instead you spurned the single offered rose

a hopeful villanelle

all times cohere when hope announces spring
when brown becomes green when leaves renew
we look for blossoms we hear the birds all sing

all the exhaustion all of the dullness we bring
from winter deep fades now from thought and view
all times cohere when hope announces spring

the bells no longer sound leaden when they ring
though cloudy still the days of cold are few
we look for blossoms we hear the birds all sing

on every side the trees now brightly fling
fresh odours into air the long grey days are through
all times cohere when hope announces spring

the world fills up with colour fit to adorn a king
the bees seek nectar to make their sweet dense brew
we look for blossoms we hear the birds all sing

with leaves and flowers the year completes its ring
from birth to death and birth's again in view
all times cohere when hope announces spring
we look for blossoms we hear the birds all sing