to a large corporation

may their hours of sleep not give them any rest
their waking hours be filled with woe and pain
they've failed when brought unto the final test

may their lives lack all hope of joy and zest
their work be hard and give them little gain
may their hours of sleep not give them any rest

each of them send on an endless useless quest
to slay the thing that cannot ever be slain
they've failed when brought unto the final test

may each one daily suffer a malignant pest
and all their hope for relief be in vain
may their hours of sleep not give them any rest

each of their endeavours is evil and unblessed
they've given others only work and strain
they've failed when brought unto the final test

it's been a torture building our own nest
enough to explode the most complaisant brain
may their hours of sleep not give them any rest
they've failed when brought unto the final test

youth

not given much to thought and less to duty
a generation without compass or map
caught up already in the cellphone trap
each girl convinced she really is a cutie
each boy believing that he needs more booty
no time to think no time to rest or nap
identity's thug clothing and backward cap
just to avoid anything that looks fruity
there's nothing here that hasn't been before
each thinks himself and friends unique
each thinks herself about to become queen
they're going out through that one-way door
but few will find the thing they really seek
at most they're guilty of being young and green

an absence of magic

naming the dragon does not end its power
there's nothing that can do that but a god
still we gain safety though only for an hour

we could in some dark corner wail and cower
wondering on what innocents it had trod
naming the dragon does not end its power

life's sweetness in due time will become sour
we live or die awaiting a monster's nod
still we gain safety though only for an hour

we hope and pray to avoid that deadly glower
our feet are light and we are softly shod
naming the dragon does not end its power

it is not blackened heath or ruined tower
that marks our fear those would not be odd
still we gain safety though only for an hour

we wait the blooming of a deadly flower
meanwhile past deadly sleeping beast we plod
naming the dragon does not end its power
still we gain safety though only for an hour

Facing the warm dark

We have no need to invent ourselves a Hell
our lives are sufficient torment to do that;
from light to darkness in five seconds flat,
from highest tower to bottom of dark well,
we know the sunny music does not swell
in fine orchestral form. An hour of chat
with someone who will give you answers pat
doesn't get rid of the monsters that dwell
deep in the heart. We know what we've been,
we've heard the roaring voices and their call
out of this world; we long so much to cease
the tiring battle, to lie beneath the green
and welcoming earth. To be silent and not bawl
at all the noises that prevent our peace,
for this, for all, we'd welcome the unseen.

and now the stars

who vanishes but who was never here
not for such folk the vagaries of place
they come and go without a single trace
we do not even see them on their bier
they will be far away who we think near
and that is what we call normative case
the sheer plasticity of human space
matters not at all to those we hold dear
now gone to ground like an escaping fox
that flash of colour was the single sign
that things occurred and once were seen
we close the door but cannot set the locks
the fruit appears full-ripened on the vine
and what we saw occur has never been