four years of war

the dark gets thicker and there is no light
bombs go off and suck in the many fools
we're told what we must say in the schools
any free speech is a danger to the fight
we've got to say that our actions were right
we had to get in there those were the rules
but it would take the more than patient mules
not to observe what's out there in plain sight
our fearless leaders sit behind their walls
the truth is more deeply than them immured
we don't hear in the dark the myriad cries
the engine of their progress sputters stalls
we learn a portion of what's been endured
what become visible are the most obvious lies

intersections

the flash is so fast
we do not understand it
meaning is complete

geese passing over
their honks will clear no traffic
spring has come to us

waiting at airport
night oppresses delay hurts
when will i have rest

regression to the mean

a future that we dreamt of came to be
it was no paradise though it had graces
people acquired almost human faces
they thought themselves educated free
they celebrated their own jubilee
theirs was a world of open public spaces
it lacked our hidden dismal quiet places
it was the best on which all could agree
now what we feared most came to pass
our happy moment here was all too fleet
and older evils came once more to rule
the demons of power of race and class
the need to be insincere and discreet
we learn our lessons in a horrid school

in flaming memory

remarkable that we can recall fire
when it flamed up and what we saw
we add another string unto the lyre

life's hard enough for seller or buyer
the crows in the trees always caw
remarkable that we can recall fire

what things to which we might aspire
will bring us under some great paw
we add another string unto the lyre

voices that compose the present choir
hit every note without a single flaw
remarkable that we can recall fire

we pile our titles up and ever higher
we hold ourselves in reverential awe
we add another string unto the lyre

our thoughts will not in this way tire
we're subject to a single civil law
remarkable that we can recall fire
we add another string unto the lyre

potsherds counted

what stops the wheel the foot raised in the air
there's nothing more to do here now it's gone
the product and producer lie in the warm sun
the guardian and guarded are beyond all care
the whole thing started as some sort of dare
before we knew it water would deep run
some would speed faster than shot from a gun
the ones who were responsible driven spare
nowhere do we abjure our former claims
but with a rush we enter not our noble home
instead we look out at the new-formed leaves
there's been no clarity to any of our aims
it's been enough to poke about and roam
answers will come though history deceives

a few clouds pass

in these fresh leaves the light drips green
we aren't asleep but aren't fully alert
what we can see is not what may be seen

the things that pain us do more than hurt
they given us meaning and they take it back
don't think of us as any more than dirt

whatever rises will be coloured black
to indicate its purely empty power
there's no time for ease here or slack

craving the rest craving the hottest shower
no place for peace no place to set it down
we wait the longest most regarded hour

the trees here hide the fact we're in a town
the bustle tells us otherwise we know
each face has become set hard in a frown

what knowledge we have will not let us go
we cannot walk but now we've got to run
we're underway but not yet under tow

we look downhill toward the setting sun

a string of briliant pearls

yesterday we chose the harder way
today we must regret it most of all
we must proclaim there is a better day

what lets us bide here will let us stray
our spirits shorten as the days grow tall
yesterday we chose the harder way

serpent or dragon's mouth will speak and say
we have not hearkened to the proper call
we must proclaim there is a better day

we've seen the light illuminate the bay
colours return to the most distant wall
yesterday we chose the harder way

we see the waters and we think of play
this is the sort of pleasure that won't pall
we must proclaim there is a better day

far to the east we see the first dawn ray
before we walk we always have to crawl
yesterday we chose the harder way
we must proclaim there is a better day