Willow Walk

no bounds to honour

no bounds to honour yet the unjust lie

faster than lightning reaches for each throat

enforcing silence there's a bitter note

we can detect even when on the fly

a universe of difference going by

while on one side are those eager to gloat

over the losers in the daily vote

our only option here seems rather dry

what has been paid does not in full restore

the world we had but what we tell each child

will matter in the end since their delight

in the large world will become so much more

absorb the truth and gather in the wild

on that fine day when their strong hearts take flight

 

the end of pride

i wrote the words and sent them on their way

not knowing how each reader understood

just what was meant nor whether any good

would come from what was simple dance and play

of thought and vision now the options sway

between the meadow and the darkling wood

and we are trapped right where the choices could

not be more difficult on the worst day

what's said can be repaired but what is made

is fixed within the world once and for all

to be acknowledged or to be denied

that is the problem puts us in the shade

leaves us exhausted makes us want to bawl

and in the end will take away our pride

now the news

fallen from glory the world now turns drab

so easily a single dullish cloud

before the sun and all brightness is cowed

without resistance we can never grab

the moment back it's cast upon the slab

and we are from all justice disendowed

who were not long ago happy and proud

but now have come to the realm of the crab

the world is many things other than fair

since what we have we always have to earn

on terms that change each day and are not right

when most we want the best of things to dare

but never mind all that is good must burn

and from the fire we gain a better light

it must be said

none of it matters but it must be said

while we have breath to speak and time to cry

since in the end we can't give in to dread

choice is not easy once we're out of bed

facing the truth and under every eye

none of it matters but it must be said

not just to you but to the ones who sped

away so fast who feared the cloudy sky

since in the end we can't give in to dread

we wait the storm knowing what lies ahead

is no wise worse that what has now gone by

none of it matters but it must be said

in plainest words and set down in black lead

for all to see and for none to deny

since in the end we can't give in to dread

and none can take the duty in our stead

nor be in place when our turn comes to die

none of it matters but it must be said

since in the end we can't give in to dread

what is human

there's no sense in the judgment that we make

concerning all the tricks of the old trade

nor in belief that turns out to be fake

in all those things that are fated to fade

the world is as it is and what must come

is less not more than what we'd thought the sum

of what we earn in simple steady pay

but given to us with little delay

we're far too eager and give in to haste

the infant mind attains its highest sway

so what is human ends up most abased

our duty never got an honest shake

but found its honour hidden in the shade

while we were learning good things by mistake

and wondering why none came by to aid

for our relief we did not earn a crumb

while happy others made off with the plum

meanwhile the foolish urged us just to pray

as if that answer were more than cliché

while our best efforts had to be replaced

and matters finished in another way

so what is human ends up most abased

the truth is clear we could not get a break

from anybody here the whole charade

was guaranteed to maximise their take

and in the process our spirits abrade

dumping us all down in the meanest slum

because we were so obviously dumb

we were served up upon a silver tray

trapped and devoured to our immense dismay

our skills dismissed and all of us disgraced

moulded and shaped just like the softest clay

so what is human ends up most abased

prince you observe as we suffer this day

ordering whips our tender backs to flay

you think this moment easily erased

yours is the power and the word today

so what is human ends up most abased

the normal decent heart

rage overflows the normal decent heart

breaking  the rule of ordinary mind

to take us right back to a sorry start

 

where we are governed by no common art

of ancient orders that were never kind

rage overflows the normal decent heart

 

once each has learnt that justice will depart

with no conclusion save the one designed

to take us right back to a sorry start

 

ensuring that  all of our limbs will smart

while we'll be stuck more deeply in the bind

rage overflows the normal decent heart

 

while all the  good and kindly fall apart

and the best choices have now been declined

to take us right back to a sorry start

 

where those who gather do not give a fart

for what should matter and the world seems blind

rage overflows the normal decent heart

to take us right back to a sorry start

 

so many failings

there are so many failings but the one

that most we fear will come to us so fast

it will not truly matter we will cast

away anger and hope then face the sun

one final time knowing the course is done

all dues are paid and all pain in the past

where it belongs nothing left but one blast

of rage or vision to pay for the run

so is it set in the soft human mud

that we call history shaped by the tide

of shallow seas that will all marks erase

and take away as well the taint of blood

letting forgetfulness replace all pride

and a calm vista do instead of praise

that is my story

no time to change from what i used to be

but now and when it happens i must leave

not just this place but  all that i conceive

to be in tune with senses that agree

in total beauty that we all can see

in that one moment when we cease to grieve

for all our losses that i must believe

will become true for what is the new me

we fall into the silence one by one

who were a certain band and knew our way

in the strong moment of unpolished youth

but there's still light the time is far from done

and there is much to do while it is day

that is my story and it is the truth

unravelled myth

what's real and true of all the stuff we learn

throughout each life is given extra sheen

by honest labour it will never burn

the deeper vision that permits a turn

towards an understanding of the seen

what's real and true of all the stuff we learn

both in and out of school is the concern

for honest dealing which becomes so keen

by honest labour it will never burn

our hands but lead us rather to discern

the better way by which to intervene

what's real and true of all the stuff we learn

reminds us of the need for what we earn

not just for us but those in the machine

by honest labour it will never burn

the ones who cry and those who only yearn

for what is not and what has never been

what's real and true of all the stuff we learn

by honest labour it will never burn

a fact of growth

the maples out in front are now in leaf

they're always late only the top is green

below they've budded with a reddish sheen

but all i know's the sight gives me relief

once more we're past the season of slow grief

and watch as down the street the youngsters preen

in repetition of an ancient scene

knowing the heat of summer won't be brief

what's left inside must still be given voice

to sing of what has been and what must come

that's honest truth the whole and not some part

since what we do is really not our choice

but what we must add to the human sum

out of our knowledge and by gentle art