a sudden brief exposure

to tell the truth means more than speech
we ask what's done to make things pass
some law's best honoured in the breach

some say that glory's just past our reach
but we may still magic power amass
to tell the truth means more than speech

we hear the nightly watchers' screech
no matter then the gleaming brass
some law's best honoured in the breach

the winds at night both chant and preach
the message is both dull and crass
to tell the truth means more than speech

for justice we would all kings impeach
and hold to each monarch the glass
some law's best honoured in the breach

our duty here's to seek and teach
while breezes dance upon the grass
to tell the truth means more than speech
some law's best honoured in the breach

the inner ear

another music fills the waiting space
all that we hear is taken into sound
we feel the warm vibration of the ground
the air is filled with power and with grace
the origins are powers we cannot trace
echoes from the distant hills rebound
a kind of glory fills up the surround
music and sight unite in grand embrace
an element that keeps us in a trance
but does not keep us from our truest goal
inhabits all the treasures we may find
this part of life emerges as a dance
involving all the body heart and soul
and all the magic sits within the mind

a kind of evolution

the moment comes of nature at her prime
when all we do adds to the the honest whole
that outward glory that all know sublime

to find true honour's certainly no crime
the sun illuminates both leaf and bole
the moment comes of nature at her prime

in truth we've found a perfect human clime
where light may comfort both mind and soul
that outward glory that all know sublime

we see the world act out a pantomime
of action and reaction pole to pole
the moment comes of nature at her prime

shadows reach out but do not the wall climb
whatever happens matters will just roll
that outward glory that all know sublime

each moment's stolen from the villain time
we're moving onwards to some noble goal
the moment comes of nature at her prime
the outward glory that all know sublime

the stuff of legends

with no concern for what is still to come
they climb the mountain seeking a new flower
those who observe from the last elven tower
have yet to calculate the aggregate sum
of human miseries that leave mortals numb
but cannot be relieved through elven power
beasts that from immortal beings cower
are not by men and women rendered glum
still there's a tale that hasn't long been heard
about the one who dreamt a golden thread
from plain to mountain in a simple line
that would have been unmade by a harsh word
but frightened beings ominous and dread
to creep back under the dark worried pine
until their master could some strength refine
and to a greater action each monster spurred
out of a light made more of dark than red
above their heads the sable-coloured bird
cawed once but still no goblin ever stirred
while our brave heroes drank the summer wine
we know the story but we will not here wait
instead we hurry to praise and applaud the great

no ceasing from exploration

under strange skies there'll be no thought of home
the pioneers will have no focus but next year
no need for memory when there's a present fear
but life won't last long when they're huddled under dome
on this new planet they've got so far to roam
before they test the limits under this fresher air
and have to settle down to normal work and care
and make the best use possible of rock and sea and loam
there's hope of finding atlantis or our alien brothers
hope too of creating what can't be found on earth
but what matters is that in our first astonished glance
we grok the strangeness but don't call for our mothers
instead we ponder the meanings of a second birth
and how in this odd place we make a human chance