Mango Walk

when life itself is turned into a jest

by those to whom no greeting is addressed

but who have some old anger to assert

you might not think there's much that could divert

this river from its course but being pressed

we find that those who act do so with zest

and leave us panting sadly in the dirt

these are the signals that we did not see

sent to the ones who most wanted to learn

just how to fight and make a better home

without distinction of form or degree

some things it turns out we just have to earn

and it is easier to stay than roam

it seems a poor way to announce just how

the sweat that came to drip from each bent brow

was owed to those who had been paid to fail

not merely as a matter of travail

and sorrow in the teeth of storm and gale

but in achievement of a foolish vow

escaping from the past into the now

our only task it seems to raise the sail

our sole approach to wisdom's a mistake

or so it seems when we are to advise

those who in urgent time to our words turn

expecting us to tell the real from fake

extract the truth from the great mass of lies

there was a sense that time itself would lend

the means by which those who could best attend

would start by emptying each cluttered room

in the clear daylight no dull weight of gloom

would keep us back nor hold us from that end

which in our hearts we have to comprehend

the universe is not truly a womb

name what we suffer and it does not die

there are no magics here nor ever were

faith cannot work to save us from our fate

it always seems that we desire the lie

want one more moment simply to confer

upon ourselves the burden of deep hate

a sterner duty comes to try the heart

we leave the hangman to his gentle art

and do not hear the hungry when they ask

for dryest crumbs nor grant drops from the flask

compassion is not what we would call smart

just fling the bodies on the diggers' cart

and do not seek to look behind the mask

so many lies and all upon the page

that  hide plain fact behind a scrim of glare

we would not have you see the world entire

as simple subject for your honest rage

nor yet as calling forth a word of rage

respectful silence now until the fire

of tiny knowledge things that have been turned

between swift signals when the court adjourned

throwing us out into the wider dread

of rotting time and weeds in the rose-bed

such were the wages which our fear had earned

in the dry season while the forest burned

you spoke and no one heard a thing you said

justice requires a citizen must pay

for all the pleasures and the sins of state

since honour's lash is straightforward and harsh

this rule is clear there are no shades of grey

nor compromises on the road to fate

just noisy birds that call out on the marsh

but sturdy growth is what we most desire

a stunning smile then winter's stern attire

we must take on these are the goods we find

as times grow stern to our hard tasks we bind

so many wishes and we hope the choir

sings just as clearly as the days require

for all our visions now have left us blind

so much that's good has passed out of plain sight

into the dust where we cannot recall

just how to make what should matter suffice

but now fresh day has come out of the night

and there's no reason for a soul to stall

while double sixes come up on the dice

like running goats in the fast-fading light

there's too much work to do and soon comes night

and care is needed with this long cane-bill

so much of life seems to defy plain will

beauty is just another boring sight

to be ignored while getting the job right

since practice makes each lad develop skill

this evening dapple under mango trees

comes with an odour of harvested spice

soon we will pass the wall and close the gate

be very grateful for the evening breeze

and happy to have salt-meat with our rice

not thinking how our meanings might translate

on rainy days now stand revealed and clear

clean and beguiling in the autumn air

announcing more than properly allowed

to those who pass to the amazing crowd

who pause to think and to those brave who dare

to tell us what is right and what is fair

the truths that make us stand up tall and proud

now fun inheres in many things we make

both in real life and all the times we dream

hope into being for our better days

all of our joy is in what we partake

with fellow framers of the human meme

creating subjects for a higher gaze

you may not ask me to take up a side

there is no honest claim here to abide

nor to pass on just listen for the clap

of daily thunder and wait for the snap

as rushing fools in their great haste collide

and will not yield because of spite or pride

when you see this you understand the trap

the only job that pays has its own cost

you won't find out until you've signed the form

and by that time you are no longer whole

but fallen deep among the wholly lost

ashamed to say you had not felt the storm

but sorry at the low price of your soul

so many fools think gods have things in hand

or huge and smelly demons stalk the land

and dragons must be faced with steady lance 

by men who on their fair chargers will prance

the holy folk who know facts in advance

turn out right quickly not to understand

the difference between brain and upright gland

and blame as magic what is normal dance

we who have watched in silence and in pain

for these long years as matters have got worse

could sense no sure relief from these hard jars

no certain ending to the acid rain

the world was groaning under weighty curse

but clouds have broken and we see the stars