31 March 2012

and did those feet


my feet have known the streets each long hot mile
the greyish dust has sunk into each toe
there's not a corner that i did not know
but i have not been back there a long while
i've not forgotten places on the isle
where in my youth i used to have to go
in a warm time when life was soft and slow
and what concerned us most were form and style
so much recalled yet so much that must count
in a new age when time has outreached rope
so that we find our feet have travelled far
from where each started on that rural mount
in a bright year when everyone had hope
unto this time beneath a troubled star

25 March 2012

out past the forest



we find no limits on these warming days
when the horizon beckons us to flee
out past the forest deep into the haze

for those indoors whose eyes are all aglaze
with lack of vision there's a thing to see
we find no limits on these warming days

our minds are liberated from the maze
of ordinary tasks we choose to be
out past the forest deep into the haze

where all of life has changed in this new phase
the rules are different both for bird and tree
we find no limits on these warming days

where light and colour mingle in one blaze
while heart and mind in peace have to agree
out past the forest deep into the haze

breaking the silence in melodious phrase
one chant of joy from mountain down to sea
we find no limits on these warming days
out past the forest deep into the haze

24 March 2012

gazing skyward



there are dark clouds beginning to take shape
out in the west so soon we'll hear the drums
aloft in heaven as the earth succumbs
its tender softness under grassy drape
is waiting eager happy mouth agape
certain that summer in its fervour comes
to soothe each rough spot that grim winter numbs
and grant each of us respite and escape
the chains that hold each down are real enough
to warrant our desire for honest ease
and liberation from the cycle's hurt
yet all in common learn how to be tough
from horrid  heat wave to the hardest freeze
we'll make it all the way until the dirt

21 March 2012

say the right word


there are some facts that will my anger trigger
as when a child eats rubbish from a skip
or dumb inanity escapes some lip
or when the worst express themselves with vigour
for i love best good honest thought and rigour
and want life to improve at a smart clip
to have a world with neither chain nor whip
where no one will be called a slave or nigger
this is a future all can understand
and tightly hold in each understanding
where gold is not a synonym for worth
and help is to be found from every hand
while every boat comes tinto a safe landing
and every child is welcomed at their birth

17 March 2012

such clarity in morning sky


such clarity in morning sky
a world of promise showing green
with purple buds beyond the screen

no chance today the earth will dry
while we are caught in the machine
such clarity in morning sky

will soon be past the time goes by
swiftly to conquer the serene
leaving as record of the scene
such clarity in morning sky

14 March 2012

music and vision



sounds matter but true meaning's in the eye
where what we note of colour size or shape
becomes the means by which honest escape
from what is known and what we can descry
by normal means will happen by and by
for each of us the record on the tape
is not the whole we're not out of the scrape
just when we we think the story has to die
so let the note be sounded once for all
while the conductor smiles at his good task
for we have taken on the cloak of grace
by overcoming each pain of the fall
from mortal height to these shores where we bask
in warmth and joy beyond the cold embrace

10 March 2012

the happy strange


there's no choice that the ordinary make
each normal day that driven by desire
in all those things the heart seeks to acquire
we wish to fault and yet the words that break
in angry torrents on our backs must take
all of our patience since they each require
that we must suffer and yet hold our fire
while moving onward for our freedom's sake
not that we grudge the right to raging voice
of those who do not understand that change
must happen that new things must come to be
in this old world and that we should rejoice
to see emergence of the happy strange
and energetic lives of liberty

09 March 2012

the circle's now completed


the circle's now completed that is plain
even to those who will not trust their eyes
who weighted down by hope and by surmise

have given little thought to the campaign
and left the door quite open to the spies
the circle's now completed that is plain

for those who come here seeking rapid gain
and always eager to hurt or despise
the slow and gentle baffling them with lies
the circle's now completed that is plain

08 March 2012

not at all plastic


here is the test of what we want to know
 measured in force but not yet in desire
entombed disdain of what we must acquire
on this short trip there's not so far to go
 before the flag comes down on the whole show
and story's done that tune's one for the lyre
unmusical but catchy round the fire
so we must learn before it's time to go
now heroes fail just like the common sort
and no birds cry when they let out last breath
 but mountains soften underneath the rain
 turning far greener with that soft support
in the sure knowledge that like any death
 we will be thankful for an end of pain

07 March 2012

our plain duty


observe the future and record the past
that's our plain duty and it is enough
to get us our redemption at long last

we're only part of the supporting cast
whose job it is to murmur words of fluff
observe the future and record the past

while others move about the world so fast
they seem like angels yet we call their bluff
to get us our redemption at long last

our task's not simple though we have been classed
among the lesser folk the job is tough
observe the future and record the past

note who showed fear and who survived the blast
that changed the world write all fear no rebuff
to get us our redemption at long last

though there are horrors we'll not stand aghast
nor yield to silence or fear of the rough
observe the future and record the past
to get us our redemption  at long last

06 March 2012

leaving the city behind


returning home and noting the white blooms
and purple blossoms as the year proceeds
to resurrect the signs of healthy deeds
that furtive humans keep to quiet rooms
not wanting to announce that life resumes
its normal course that each of us concedes
our mortal happiness too flowers bleeds
and has its joyous moments not just dooms
a simple justice tells us to observe
how the world works and then to understand
how great our folly that we seek to hold
back the ticking clock think we can preserve
all fragile nature if we lift a hand
and keep the flower perfect if we're bold

03 March 2012

what does the trick


there are no rules that do not become stale
with greasy age but never quite can fade
into disuse there's an unspoken trade
that does not need the ruler or the scale
but measures all those things that must avail
to keep us steady when we call for aid
the ones who never come out to parade
but without whom the enterprise would fail
these actions have the qualities of rite
imbued with meaning sanctified by age
yet all the agents seem such normal folk
people who sleep through the short hours of night
would not be caught dead strutting on the stage
but will not bend beneath the whip or yoke

02 March 2012

some sort of vision


no thought of loss just so much heavy grey
thickness of smoke  unfolding on the ground
removing colour flattening all sound
and yet we can note little of the day
too warm we think but yet no time for play
all wait to hear a message more profound
but all who speak seem narrow closely bound
by weighty powers all have lost the way
instead of music we have flighty speech
to serve as background for the journey out
beyond the doors to where all roads must start
each of us pledged to do our best to reach
the highest goal and by the human art
we know the best to overcome all doubt

01 March 2012

king of the cats


more loud than thunder with its rumbling shout
is the clear voice that says the course is set
from west to east and there is none to let
down the lines nor to put the candles out
when storm's upon us rattling hard the spout
so half asleep and too late to regret
the cost of excess calm and price of sweat
we still confront the truth of pain and doubt
less certain that the world to which we'll wake
shall be the one in which we went to sleep
no matter what the colour of the skies
we live to understand the great mistake
to learn about just what we get to keep
and what to make of the long stream of lies