standard education

when we are born love is the only plan

so much intended but the vessel breaks

and human heart knows how to make mistakes

 

our sole intent is to complete each span

in fullest knowledge of how much it takes

when we are born love is the only plan

 

there is no secret here woman or man

each of us gets in our turn proper shakes

and learns in time just how each body aches

when we are born love is the only plan

shore beast

on water's edge there lurks an angry crab

you don't suspect he's there ready to pounce

and when you least expect your feet he'll grab

 

you thought yourself safe on the hard stone slab

so many ills you're eager to denounce

on water's edge there lurks an angry crab

 

ready to catch you to snap and to jab

his name you'll find it easy to pronounce

and when you least expect your feet he'll grab

 

you see us all here each with his sore scab

this is no enemy easy to trounce

on water's edge there lurks an angry crab

 

in times long past it was simple to blab

to laugh because the creature could not flounce

and when you least expect your feet he'll grab

 

this is a knife that knows just how to stab

draining vitality by the seeping ounce

on water's edge there lurks an angry crab

and when you least expect your feet he'll grab

behold a mystery

a narrow vision leads us to the gate
where what we find is what we least desire
only those goods we wish not to acquire
those ugly gifts that we get just too late
the simple signs of those who most berate
rather than giving up in face of ire
the golden trinkets we do not admire
so we blame justice and sad misty fate
this is the hour when no star ever shines
but we hear nothing but our own long sighs
and do not see the monster when it comes
nor wish to know with which crew it aligns
mistrusting evidence of our own eyes
yet ready even now to gather crumbs