lost or still

 

you chose your route with evidence of care
but not without some semblance of regret
it did not matter in this winter air

legend would have it there was time to spare
and none of the adversaries had met
you chose your route with evidence of care

never before had branches been so bare
nor had the silent more reasons to fret
it did not matter in this winter air

what had to happen needed none to stare
just some to start and others to abet
you chose your route with evidence of care

this was the place where you had set the snare
the ones who waited did not break a sweat
it did not matter in this winter air

the game was rigged but no one thought it fair
it is observed by those who won't forget
you chose your route with evidence of care
it did not matter in this winter air

unequal sacrifice

 

it is the absence that causes most hurt
so much the need to speak of what has passed
urgency requires constant alert

so much had fallen into mud and dirt
we stood there faint both angry and aghast
it is the absence that causes most hurt

so much has happened we could not avert
what once was sacred now become outcast
urgency requires constant alert

truths that a child might carelessly blurt
are now the secrets of a hidden past
it is the absence that causes most hurt

the gift of kindness now become inert
is what the pain so easily surpassed
urgency requires constant alert

an impulse halts and swiftly becomes curt
no one resists the evil of the blast
it is the absence that causes most hurt
urgency requires constant alert

diplomatic necessity

you are the winner and so you must play
regardless of the time and of your mood
the kind of weather and the good accrued
by those who chose the higher course and way
of calmer battle leading you astray
was not our purpose we all came unglued
because our spies and agents would collude
but would not issue a communiqué
this is the proper time to say how much
the things that matter can be set aside
for better judgment and for hope of change
we count as victory one human touch
enough to satisfy even your pride
and to retrieve from darkness all the strange

the vortex always wins

refuse to praise the ones who never weep
their hearts are frozen and their minds are dead
we give our love and then we have to sleep

so many things turn out just to be cheap
but we have sold our souls to earn our bread
refuse to praise the ones who never weep

day after day we watch the forests creep
towards the mountains and we feel the dread
we give our love and then we have to sleep

no part to play but still we have to heap
the grain until the last fat beast is fed
refuse to praise the ones who never weep

you turned your back when others had to leap
above the bar and those who failed were bled
we give our love and then we have to sleep

the river's shallow and the ocean's deep
such matters will not fill even your head
refuse to praise the ones who never weep
we give our love and then we have to sleep

at the station

 so when we fainted on those long summer streets
we did not look towards the cold and snow
nor did we wonder what monsters might grow
from those strange torments and tiring defeats
not one of those who on these days competes
to claim that they're the ones who truly know
the difference between actual truth and show
can claim that they know all the tricks and cheats
visions of mercy do not drive us wild
but we are given some sort of a chance
to mark the limit of just where to start
the teaching of the one who is no child
but who must lead us through this final dance
and then remind us that each has a heart

mobile leaf

 

normal understanding has got to fail
when we achieve the boundaries of sense
no leaf will stay in place during a gale

there is no account of size scope or scale
who makes the claim will do so in pretense
normal understanding has got to fail

you hold the whole pacific in a pail
and keep all of mankind behind a fence
no leaf will stay in place during a gale

shapes born of shadow will this day prevail
your epic story has now to commence
normal understanding has got to fail

the victory belongs to the female
you tell us this in utter innocence
no leaf will stay in place during a gale

this fish was caught by head as well as tail
the process takes long time and much expense
normal understanding has got to fail
no leaf will stay in place during a gale