warmth in autumn

night takes time to fade
fogs and steams fill the valleys
a lone dog may bark

spokesmen declare

 

it isn't the hard option nobody has to die
we just have to take a moment's brief pain
declare our satisfaction with another's gain
and smile as clouds gather in the dark sky
into your business we shall never pry
since we are certain there can be no stain
on your escutcheon no person with a brain
would do a thing that would expose the lie
a smaller truth we cannot hope to find
not even if we may gyrate or twist
since there is none who could defy your rule
we've come at last to the full end of mind
replaced for all of time by the hard fist
and bow before the coming of the fool

difficulty solved

 

a little time to clean off all the rust
by honestly applying elbowgrease
and we will then face down the uppercrust
so they'll find out that we aren't simple geese
or sheep from which to plainly take the fleece
there are so many things they have not seen
but we are not the patsies that we've been
and have now learned enough for our own good
we'll do much more than merely vent our spleen
our hope is liberty and brotherhood

the past it turns out was not all a bust
we learn so much when others think it peace
remaining silent when we know we must
but ready when we need to speak our piece
we give our hearts and words needed release
our minds are sharp and wits are razor-keen
our weapons are not hidden by a screen
and we have learned from what we have withstood
there is no doubt exactly what we mean
our hope is liberty and brotherhood

we will break through with one directed thrust
the time of patience and of calm will cease
and you'll be left half-quaking in the dust
protected by no troops and no police
we will not dance and sing for your caprice
there is no aid that comes ultramarine
you had your time and power upon the scene
but we have learned and we have understood
your thoughts and wishes matter not a bean
our hope is liberty and brotherhood

prince all your power we judge to be obscene
we will not bow before a lord or queen
the only proper guide's the common good
the world is much more than a mere machine
we want things honest and we need them clean
our hope is liberty and brotherhood

emancipation

 

we've heard the anguished ones daily appeal
nothing could ever be so clear or plain
we must at once restore the common weal

the harshest orders are not under seal
nor are our hopes so easy to attain
we've heard the anguished ones daily appeal

the slowest waggon moves on tyres of steel
the ones that pull it truly feel the strain
we must at once restore the common weal

hot and exhausted all the workers reel
they're not revived by hope of cool or rain
we've heard the anguished ones daily appeal

there's no time for harangue or lying spiel
only the swift may hope to catch the train
we must at once restore the common weal

who will not hear will surely have to feel
all the frustration and the searing pain
we've heard the anguished ones daily appeal
we must at once restore the common weal

a small achievement

and after all the work a glass of rum
will nicely serve to ease and to relax
not every job is marked by bending backs

now here and there i find a sweet fat plum
though more often absent sense and syntax
and after all the work a glass of rum

somewhere an idler pleasing chords may strum
or more ambitious blows upon the sax
but every worker has some kind of axe
and after all the work a glass of rum

inner purpose

 

the name we seek provides us with no map
of where we want to go of how to pack
our bags and pouches ready for the track
ahead high mountains and a tiny gap
we cannot tell if it's really a trap
as through the clinging scrub we chop and hack
all that we know is that we can't go back
there is no other option now that's crap
who does not know the secret sacred word
that serves as passport to the warmer land
but still goes forward is some sort of fool
the truest message is that it's absurd
to think that everything will come to hand
and nature will be apt to shape each tool

 

hello world

there is no place where anyone might hide
from those who cannot tell us what we need
but who will blame the victim for the deed
the rules require no honour and no pride
but each of us must perforce choose a side
either the noble flower or the base weed
to be the sower or else become the seed
no one has told us we’re here for the ride
a life of music might not satisfy
any who long to find a better light
but who must still fear just what might be thought
by those who claim a falling heavy sky
will bring to us a long and painful night
made worse by knowing just what we have wrought