at a nice angle

 we reach the end and must wait for the sign
so much to do but duty is no guide
to what we most recall on every side
all of the signals tell us toe the line
and wait for others to fail or decline
our choice is complex and we have our pride
so many hells in which we have to hide
and all too easy just to bitch and whine
this one small motion of the daily air
tells us of what so many more have seen
and our small knowledge adds to the amount
of what becomes the mark of this affair
now seen most clearly far beyond the screen
and all we know forms part of the account

this is just what it says

 so many ways to make the answer gleam
you know your business best and cannot fail
year after year the fish feed in the stream

truth is what catches in the noontime beam
a meaning that we give when not too pale
so many ways to make the answer gleam

your signal is not what we should esteem
another rag is hanging on the nail
year after year the fish feed in the stream

thank every sailor that we have made steam
since the appearance might be not so stale
so many ways to make the answer gleam

against the tide there's nothing we could deem
worthy enough to pay off our travail
year after year the fish swim in the stream

all of the symbols are not what they seem
there is no safety left beyond the rail
so many ways to make the answer gleam
year after year the fish swim in the stream

out of strict detention

this is the limit of what we should praise
our eyes are weary and our hearts just sad
so much we turned into just one more fad

the journey comes to end in one great blaze
watched by the frog on its small lilypad
this is the limit of what we should praise

whoever called these the much greater days
we should have drowned them and not called them mad
there's not much here to make anyone glad
this is the limit of what we should praise

who are the otherkind

 

those were the markers of another fight
until we knew just how the angle held
there was no need to cross into the light

this is the god that took the only bite
whose mind refused to enter into meld
those were the markers of another fight

we did not say the meanings were so tight
but only that the symbols had not jelled
there was no need to cross into the light

the dragon told us of a complex plight
into which evil beings were expelled
those were the markers of another fight

so much depended on us saying right
the words which had a thousand actions quelled
there was no need to cross into the light

now in the castle we can see the bright
deception practiced by ones we expelled
those were the markers of another fight
there was no need to cross into the light