nameless place

this is a dry and stony quarter-acre

too hard to till and far too small to build

upon by us the poor and the unskilled

 

here in the realm of liar and of faker

where the last honest impulse has been stilled

this is a dry and stony quarter-acre

 

left over at creation by the maker

so there is nothing that we have to gild

no dark condition we've left unfulfilled

this is a dry and stony quarter-acre

nameless place

this is a dry and stony quarter-acre

too hard to till and far too small to build

upon by us the poor and the unskilled

 

here in the realm of liar and of faker

where the last honest impulse has been stilled

this is a dry and stony quarter-acre

 

left over at creation by the maker

so there is nothing that we have to gild

no dark condition we've left unfulfilled

this is a dry and stony quarter-acre

a solid word

 

this is the verb that we declare must stand

for place and season taken out of time

by our decision rendered full sublime

by simplest action of creative hand

uttered each morning by serene command

the sound itself is richer than each chime

of golden bells tuned to a perfect prime

while the symbolic meaning is so grand

all that we say can be reduced to this

concision of significance and sound

where every symbol strains into the light

yet not a thing is here that we could miss

even if we retreat to harder ground

since we have turned our backs upon the night

a solid word

 

this is the verb that we declare must stand

for place and season taken out of time

by our decision rendered full sublime

by simplest action of creative hand

uttered each morning by serene command

the sound itself is richer than each chime

of golden bells tuned to a perfect prime

while the symbolic meaning is so grand

all that we say can be reduced to this

concision of significance and sound

where every symbol strains into the light

yet not a thing is here that we could miss

even if we retreat to harder ground

since we have turned our backs upon the night