stolen wisdom

we have no answer for this ancient trade
no vision comes although we may require
a sort of sense that may withstand the fire
but we must face the future without aid
a remnant army forms this new parade
new folk will to old honours yet aspire
strength and courage are always on hire
there is a proper way to see things made
what knowledge we have is of lesser kind
a morning's worth of harmony is left
but in the light there is not any harm
our interlocutors are rendered blind
the burdens given have but little heft
and we have no defence but simple charm

all of the wonder

a moment's sense of what is truly light
no weight of darkness sits upon your head
you do the things you know are right
a moment's sense of what is truly light

a sort of magic intervenes in sight
another answer might provoke much dread
a moment's sense of what is truly light
no weight of darkness sits upon your head

all of our pay must go for heat and bread
the process that we see will end in night
our children at the least will be well-fed
all of our pay must go for heat and bread

we say the things that should be left unsaid
no matter what we're all in the same plight
all of our pay must go for heat and bread
the process that we see will end in night

each generation thinks itself more bright
that all ancestors though they are still led
by those whose consciences are but slight
each generation thinks itself more bright

our truest selves are present in the rite
from this brave presence every fear has fled
each generation thinks itself more bright
than all ancestors though they are still led

a crooked smoke

all of our days come down to this
we aren't the ones who know the score
we're stuck with all the hate of yore
but cannot fathom why they hiss
we'd rather give the fame a miss
but know that we are at the fore
the price of power is blood and gore
the scent of money's shit and piss
we pay the cost of scrum and ruck
with gladness for they're other lives
and we would make our children glad
we'll rig the odds and call it luck
while setting forth on jaunty drives
there's no good reason to be sad
what they call justice is a passing fad
we are determined and we're not stuck
let other folk sweat and break out in hives
what we have done would drive a human mad
there's nothing in the tears of grieving wives
we're powerful and we don't give a fuck
whether you live are wounded or just die
means less to us than our most sacred lie

afternoon nap

i want to sleep the whole way round the clock
a sort of lethargy has seized my aching mind
in all such matters you should take no stock
i want to sleep the whole way round the clock

there's nothing here that's left for me to shock
you seem to want life of quite another kind
i want to sleep the whole way round the clock
a sort of lethargy has seized my waking mind

out of season

enough to say that we have lost
all plaudits go to those who win
our chances are all in the bin

hands all move slowly in the frost
we count each gain to be a sin
enough to say that we have lost

not one of you would know the cost
of keeping the whole world in spin
instead we take it on the chin
enough to say that we have lost

We do not exist alone

[If there are one or more people on your friends list who make your world a better place just because they exist, and whom you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence in your journal. ]

father's day

let us define the roles and we may find
that we fall into them with simple ease
we all want to impress and teach and please
but each beginning still is frantic blind
we want to come off generous and kind
but cannot see the forest for the trees
and are afraid to end up on our knees
each day's a fresh storm in the honest mind
we let it happen and we hope for good
all that we get becomes a sort of prize
our best desire may be the slowest trend
we're sorry when we have not understood
the world takes its own shape before our eyes
and there are no final answers in the end

a burnt-out case

a sort of treason fills each heart
against the odds we feel the lack
of strength in shoulder and in back

believing that we should soon start
we learn that we have lost the track
a sort of treason fills each heart

we take results in no good part
long time we gave good sense the sack
and now we face the lash and rack
a sort of treason fills each heart