wheels turning as they do

 

we never asked for more than just plain time
but when we paused the crowd laughed at our shock
we learned too soon its passage was the crime

the sun descends so quickly from its prime
and others gather far too soon to mock
we never asked for more than just plain time

doors slam before the last bell ends its chime
we hear the key work swiftly in each lock
we learned too soon its passage was the crime

we thought it summer and then we saw the rime
of frost on water at the empty dock
we never asked for more than just plain time

someone had told us of the great sublime
movement of white birds in their airy flock
we learned too soon its passage was the crime

this was the price for a too rapid climb
an early fall and a swift loss of stock
we never asked for more than just plain time
we learned too soon its passage was the crime

tax collection

not for a moment do we hold this true
that all the virtues are still undefiled
and the old expert still a virgin child
as pure and brilliant as the morning dew
when we emerge and place it first in view
at the first hour when sunlight is still mild
and the whole world still seems just to have smiled
we deem the universe so fresh and new
now with the pain we feel when we can see
all the long years add up to futile age
we know the promise cannot add up right
there's someone who will charge some kind of fee
and force us to pay up although we rage
since nothing that we do can hold back night