Willow Walk

far past the horde

what's made impossible and left undone

becomes the goal of those who cannot know

how fast the little tree will have to grow

to reach its proper place beneath the sun

in this hard age some tasks are never fun

but this one is for more than simple show

it will not leave us with the sort of glow

that brings the punters to us on the run

you have the magic now or so you think

since all the focus is on how you do

this simple task not on our tired fall

from what was grace but still on the last brink

of victory you may not have your due

since none of us get anything at all

a matter of choices

in all the time we take to sit and talk

not one of us has gotten up to look

at what is in the woods just past the brook

 

it's very simple if only we would walk

out through the gate we would not be mistook

in all the time we take to sit and talk

 

but then we'd miss the play of mouse and hawk

which is not written down in any book

nor see the creature hiding in her nook

in all the time we take to sit and talk

lacking much regret

some other cretin gets to play the king

while i look on and take my turn to weep

some little moment and then slowly creep

out of the way to let you have your fling

laugh at the crowd ignore each tiny sting

of subtle words although the hurt goes deep

into my heart and is not soothed by sleep

yet other heroes must go in the ring

so much is read by you upon the page

in one short night beneath a lucky star

when all the symbols come together clear

not so well do things work now in this age

yet we have managed to do well so far

and may yet work our way into clean air

this sudden silence

this sudden silence comes to us as pain

no one is present who can see each turn

take note of anger watch the spirit burn

 

there's nothing left that we need to retain

of these old lessons yet we have to learn

this sudden silence comes to us as pain

 

year after year just so the sight is plain

and no old memories are left to churn

in empty hearts that do not cease to yearn

this sudden silence comes to us as pain

Half a Century of Lies

John Maxwell

 

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win" It is one of my favourite apothegms and is credited variously to Mohandas Gandhi and to a spokesman for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. Whoever said it clearly understood the nature of struggle like my illustrious colleague Fidel Castro who has now turned journalist after 50 years inventing a civilisation. Fidel does not often lose his temper in public, but this week it was obvious he was sorely tried by the results of the Americas Summit in Port of Spain. In a piece of biting sarcasm Fidel questioned the fitness of the Organisation of American States to be the guarantor of any new and just dispensation in the Western hemisphere. In a reflection entitled "Delirious Dreams" Fidel lets rip: "Is the OAS perchance the guarantor of the sovereignty and integrity of the peoples of Latin America? Always! "Did it at any point intervene in the internal affairs of any country in the hemisphere? Never! "Is it true that it has always represented a docile instrument of the United States? Never! "Did one single Latin American or Caribbean die on its account? Not one! Those are calumnies of Castro-Communism emanating from Cuba, a country expelled from the OAS because its government proclaimed Marxism-Leninism, a country where there was never an election, nobody votes or is elected, and in which a dictatorship reigns that has had the effrontery to confront a country as weak, defenceless and poor as the United States throughout half a century." Even from those who claim to be least biased in the ideological contention, it is impossible to get a fair hearing for anyone but the United States. So-called journalists, like Robert Novak and Judith Miller, Wolf Blitzer, Lou Dobbs and Glenn Beck, to name only the most grotesque, have made it almost impossible for the 'average American" to discover what's happening in his own country much less the world outside. And since the mainstream media determine what most people believe, US politicians are among the most ignorant in the world. The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, one of the better informed think tanks in the US was constrained to comment on Fidel's reflection on the Summit: "Fidel's latest interjection follows the almost scientific pattern of Cuban authorities of shooting t themselves in the foot at precisely the moment that meaningful dialogue appears achievable with the U.S.

ariel to prospero

you want me to be free or so you say

old man magician with your leathern book

who half-way has me but must have mistook

my gratitude for some sort of dismay

you say you will not let me just betray

my anger and my frailty with a look

and yet your words are sharper than a hook

since i am not allowed to go my way

that darker one you tell me is not brave

still you must fear him since the heavy chain

is on his neck and you lay on his head

not freedom's cap but the straw hat of slave

discounting every thought in his swift brain

as if you can dismiss that way your dread

approaching atlanta

the sight of venus chasing crescent moon

above the city tells us there's no time

for us to wait the morning bell must chime

 

we have to go the city wakes up soon

our only signal in this horrid clime

the sight of venus chasing crescent moon

 

no one is hidden now in their cocoon

this city's visible in all its grime

the one reward to justify our crime

the sight of venus chasing crescent moon

true picture this

we find that truth is not inside the frame

since what is seen is not what we were shown

and what is left is just headache and moan

 

your silence is a kind of purple shame

not even worthy of a single groan

we find that truth is not inside the frame

 

the founders told us this was all a game

but their intentions like the rose were blown

all our sad purposes still marked the known

we find that truth is not inside the frame

silver dragon

a silver dragon rests on the dry lawn

marking the place beyond which we must go

to find those facts that each would have to know

 

simply to choose between the prince and pawn

since the bright river cannot cease its flow

a silver dragon rests on the bright lawn

 

catching each colour as night turns to dawn

though every movement of the foot is slow

yet steady hand will need to make the throw

a silver dragon rests on the dry lawn

where one has been

mistake the angle and things will go green

your heart will turn so many complex ways

yet nothing focuses on the unseen

 

a master moves his pawn to seize the queen

while rookie player looks on in a daze

mistake the angle and things will go green

 

with envious laughter breaking on the scene

as every eye is lost in the blue haze

yet nothing focuses on the unseen

 

appearance of what seems to be a clean

fracture of moments what will now amaze

mistake the angle and things will go green

 

into the water where the sharks convene

hungry as ever under your bright gaze

yet nothing focuses on the unseen

 

keeper of hopes that say still they mean

honest exposure and true wealth of days

mistake the angle and things will go green

yet nothing focuses on the unseen