your name is precious

 your name is precious and you must redeem
each small expense of virtue you have made
honour requires a sharp and steady blade
which you have polished to a merry gleam
force and raw power the masses will esteem
leaving the calm and silent in the shade
plain cloth has not the merit of brocade
and honest answer bows to fever dream
motion is life but we have to be still
and listen to the words borne on the air
while in the distance gathers once more cloud
easy to blame some harsh and ancient will
whisper of forces to the unaware

just how the day ends

 just how the day ends will not really matter
you learn some things and others will forget
while over all the raindrops still may spatter

a time of quiet ends with angry clatter
the precise hour so long ago was set
just how the day ends will not really matter

we left the happy children to their chatter
too soon they'll learn the meanings of regret
while over all the raindrops still may spatter

all turns to silence there's no need to flatter
when other purposes have not been met
just how the day ends will not really matter

against the wall we vainly strike and batter
honour and purpose long ago upset
while over all the raindrops still may spatter

upon this shore the urgent waves still shatter
but no one's left to worry or to fret
just how the day ends will not really matter
while over all the raindrops still may spatter

the wrongful art

the secret is one that's well-known of old
desire to shape the world into a dream
such hearts too soon become both hard and cold

all youth mistake the brash for the true bold
each rotting bubble for an honest gleam
the secret is one that's well-known of old

what you condemn the foolish have extolled
confusing anger with deepest esteem
such hearts too soon become both hard and cold

they take the frozen for the self-controlled
that decent interval seems too extreme
the secret is one that's well-known of old

no sound brick's left behind the vicious mould
but you declare the world is as you deem
such hearts too soon become both hard and cold

ill-painted tin you tell us is bright gold
not knowing we've grown weary of the meme
the secret is one that's well-known of old
such hearts too soon become both hard and cold
 

nowhere in the dark

 

nowhere in the dark a hopeful sound
the cadences of night are never kind
no signals and no meanings are defined
\cold and delusion complete the surround
while our best wishes in silence are drowned
to quiet hopes there speaks an empty mind
of hearts and forces that have been confined
by more than nature in this horrid pound
let us not mention just what words were said
by those too eager to demand a trust
not easy given by the ones who know
loathsome creatures soaring overhead
with fiercest breath turn swiftly into rust
those things we least would want to see let go