too late the dawn

 

we wait but cannot see the promised light
nights are so cold and the stars are so far
beyond our reach so our hands cannot mar
their icy beauty yet they're still in sight
our hope of reaching them is less than slight
we know that we can never cross the bar
we need the sun for neither moon nor star
can give us hope that what we see is right
it's summer-warm but i still feel the cold
above me malign shadows hold their place
the bomb goes off just as you light the fuse
once i have shivered i'll not feel so bold
as to believe i'll finish out the race
but cannot act as if i know i'll lose

we're irrelevant

we cannot tell the white cord from the black
all of our hope has gone into the fire
we're still constrained to stay right at the back

if you are honest you'll just get the sack
the one who wins is the outrageous liar
we cannot tell the white cord from the black

no winds are left to lurk within the sack
the statue cannot stand upon the spire
we're still constrained to stay right at the back

the truth is never what's told by the flack
nor what is sung by the most sweet-voiced choir
we cannot tell the white cord from the black

what once was profit now turns into lack
what once we hated now we most desire
we're still constrainted to stay right at the back

through densest bush a way we have to hack
only to find we've fallen in the mire
we cannot tell the white cord from the black
we're still constrained to stay right at the back

awaking early looking east

the comet hanging over distant hills
presages nothing that we want to see
a dream of terror that won't ever be

the narrow scope of normal human wills
cannot find roots beneath the mystic tree
the comet hanging over distant hills

we do not know just what in power and skills
we'll need in those strange lands beyond the sea
there stands a sign commanding that we flee
the comet hanging over distant hills

evading grasp

too long a silence scarifies the heart
we dread the abyss that we know is there
after we've stripped the onion layer by layer
having been told that was our proper part
there's no way back down to the very start
our feet seem planted firmly in the air
with not an obligation are we square
and yet we seem to think we master art
the cloudy sky is pregnant with no rain
beneath us wells of justice have run dry
in autumn every tree is stubborn green
we lack a proper measure for the pain
that we have caused with every little lie
nor can we analyse what we have seen

experience speaks

we've come out now from under all that cloud
endurance and survival leave us proud
that after such a time we're still unbowed
above us in the night are strange new stars

we paid no heed to passages of time
to focus all our efforts is no crime
and yet we heard no ticking and no chime
above us in the night are strange new stars

we've struggled for our livings every pound
has been invested in a manner sound
and we have mapped out every bit of ground
above us in the night are strange new stars

we're not yet ready to receive the shroud
you give us reasons and we'll give you rhyme
our fates and yours are ever closely bound
above us in the night are strange new stars

now we've survived the anguish of long wars
and told our story in a thousand bars
we thought ourselves past all dangers and jars
above us in the night are strange new stars

fullest understanding

 beyond the shadow
unnumbered worlds for taking
but so little time

Beyond the dragon hoard

We dig the ground to find diamonds and gold
but not for what they look like or they feel;
we judge the orange by more than its peel
and every story by the ones you've told.
Our love is not for stones or metals cold,
but things made new. Not iron ore but steel,
not fruit on tree, but as part of a meal;
to make the world is where we have been bold.
Not nature do we praise, but only art
that takes the raw and turns it ever true.
Then we won't whisper, we shall simply shout:
Release the power that hides within the heart,
give the old masters their fine, proper due,
and take good note before numbers run out.
 

between the voids

 

we come from nowhere and that's where we end
what's in between is all of human joy
and all the pain that one life can deploy

facing the wind we either break or bend
the powers see each of us as one more toy
we come from nowhere and that's where we end

there is a message each of us must send
all that shall happen is no evil ploy
each overcomes those things that would annoy
we come from nowhere and that's where we end