Willow Walk

boundary of time

a single moment and we see the shade

vanish abruptly as the sun appears

night seems to caution but the new day cheers

 

towards the west late birds head in parade

nobody with their movement interferes

a single moment and we see the shade

 

some other meaning must have been conveyed

in all the gathering of daily cares

just as we note the changing of the airs

a single moment and we see the shade

wet sunday morning

once past the dark the bronze and gold hold sway

in this half-light the kingdom of the rain

what we name silver is a brighter grey

 

no one is certain on this sort of day

but would not venture to speak nor complain

once past the dark the bronze and gold hold sway

 

there are no shadows that is what we say

in the damp woods the leaf-mould leaves its stain

what we name silver is a brighter grey

 

with its cold hand the passing storm will slay

dry heat of summer and tie winter's chain

once past the dark the bronze and gold h old sway

 

beneath loose dirt is nothing but hard clay

red as the rust that wants to claim its reign

what we name silver is a brighter grey

 

it is no use to shout or disobey

the dull commands of human body's pain

once past the dark the bronze and gold hold sway

what we name silver is a brighter grey

The Human Zoo

John Maxwell

There is an ancient joke about an American tourist being shepherded round Europe on a package tour, collecting places without ever experiencing them. One morning his wife asked him: “Where are we? His bemused answer:  ‘If this is Tuesday this must be Paris.’

The cruise ship business is even more soulless than the land based package tour. Cruise ships are floating amusement parks designed to delude you into believing that you are taking part  in  a mind expanding experience – travelling to foreign countries to partake of the local culture. In fact the stops in the various islands of convenience are basically to buy cheap water and to allow the crew a day to clean the ship and make it ready for the next day of cruising and boozing and goofing off at great expense.

from the first echo

from the first echo of the shout of doom

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

when mosquitoes come

at sunset when mosquitoes come to play

their urgent buzzing games of sucking blood

the darkness comes upon us like a flood

we long for cleansing light of the next day

behind the net there is not much to say

outside the frogs are croaking in the mud

a misplaced word falls now with heavy thud

this is the season when thought goes astray

smoke blends with fog in the short humid night

as all our measures pause within the heat

not one is certain and they all seem wrong

in their slow circle all the clouds move right

over the mountains to a steady beat

and deep within each heart there is a song

time for a change

your duty is to serve without a pause

those who are worse than you and who must hurt

your heart and soul and give you justest cause

to overturn them and cast into dirt

all of their forces you must disconcert

those who expect that you are just a pawn

who do not think that you get your desert

night lasts its time but the earth turns to dawn

 

the ones who always get loudest applause

are those who in their way have to assert

entitlement both to tears and guffaws

it takes you little effort to exert

your claim to justice that is not covert

against a force that is not soon withdrawn

it is no easy matter to assert

night lasts its time but the earth turns to dawn

 

we find it written in a complex clause

that scholars have no reason to pervert

reason is subject to no human laws

we must to basic principles revert

and from its course the evil power divert

by dint of honesty as well as brawn

until the force of terror lies inert

night lasts its time but the earth turns to dawn

 

prince we are flattered you have not been curt

and have not chosen our hopes to subvert

these are the times when hopes are not yet gone

we might with many choices have to flirt

night lasts its time but the earth turns to dawn

ballade of doubt

no one will think an error self-corrects

blind folk see better than those who have led

our startled crew and learned from the effects

that it were better if they all had bled

completely flat and nothing more were said

it being time now to express true rage

and letting no kind words the mood assuage

we will not let the hero get the blame

it is our duty now to set the stage

before we pass into the final flame

 

the kind of man who his own thought collects

might think that there was time to prevent dread

but he who speaks knows best what he expects

when facing those who he with lies has fed

at the right moment when the world turns red

he has learned swiftly their weak minds to gauge

and shows himself to them as king and sage

while not revealing the whole thing is a game

there's no defence monocyte macrophage

before we pass into the final flame

 

you might have thought of these human defects

as bringing matters to a stirring head

but not a one here fact with fact connects

or sorts the clearly living from the dead

all are just here to earn a little bread

make some small money collect daily wage

for that alone they would their time engage

you might think that a kind of mortal shame

it's not their task to answer your hard gage

before we pass into the final flame

 

prince you might wonder at these things backstage

but they're the matter of our dying age

we say the words and give the facts a frame

but that's no more than simple persiflage

before we pass into the final flame

royal command

to mete out magics is no complex task

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

 

a tribute of wild tears

at the last end naught's left but a bare name

there is no straight account of loss or gain

you can't expect loud hatred or acclaim

 

this is the price each pays to avoid shame

to keep things hidden and stave off the stain

at the last end naught's left but a bare name

 

this siren blast will serve to point the blame

right where you want it where you won't complain

you can't expect loud hatred or acclaim

 

instead some mention of the sort of game

that you would play so you could ascertain

at the last end naught's left but a bare name

 

no one has set the picture in its frame

the proper sequence is not yet in train

you can't expect loud hatred or acclaim

 

after this run no wonder you turn lame

there's no escape you must accept the pain

at the last end naught's left but a bare name

you can't expect loud hatred or acclaim

so much for balance

narrow the vision and a world's unseen

withhold the names and much is left unsaid

a simple thing but so easy to dread

you learn the facts and then you are not keen

to face what is to come the things that mean

not merely change but that you were misled

by a false light and too soon will be dead

to all that mattered and will leave the scene

this altered light suffices to inform

our surging hearts of the firm pace of time

just as our eyes catch sight of the grim bird

that circles slowly just before the storm

clear testament to what had been a crime

that speaks as loudly as a human word