no name will matter at the very last
when all the pains we wandered for are done
in the last drops we crave of pallid sun
and the dark bones we hate are being cast
we'll smile and nod knowing we were outclassed
by those we taught who passed us on the run
not knowing that the game was not in fun
and soon they too will fade into the past
all that we know is just a tiny bit
of the whole tale a mere partial story
which each is given for their proper role
enough to play with some essay at wit
although we all wish the full of glory
not one of us can grasp the very whole

where we have been both sombre and perplexed
relieved in winter by the thoughts of light
in coming seasons knowing that the bright
hours that have passed will leave me no less vexed
than heavy cloud in this wintry context
of damp and rain and days that fade to night
with little notice nothing it seems is right
as we  engage to find out what comes next
this is the law by which our lives are bound
in lands both narrow and unseemly wide
to face the future with unsteady arms
in fainting hope of finding safer ground
not certain that there is a winning side
and listening for the end of all alarms

dull red and heavy is the morning sky
the storm is coming  so we are afraid
while time is wasting yet to make the grade

the air's unmoving birds refuse to fly
there is no hope that the great storm's delayed
dull red and heavy is the morning sky

no better world is showing to the eye
what's been released we hope will not degrade
beneath the coming rain yet we're dismayed
dull red and heavy is the morning sky

we're faced with everything but honest grief
hard lies are shouted in the open street
and pleasant words recited in retreat

by both the kind physician and the thief
until we think the harsh venom is sweet
we're faced with everything but honest grief

so we resile still there's no real relief
for either broken hearts or weary feet
since life itself turns out to be a cheat
we're faced with everything but honest grief

some choose some wait but heroes seldom laugh
at life or fate that's for  the braver fool
who enters action with a certain cool
and finishes the final paragraph
not in the weeds and out beyond the chaff
like any villain we who've been to school
refuse to smile obedient to that rule
established on the citizens' behalf
which choices made permit you to depart
towards new worlds where other pains await
not eager now as you were at the start
but better studied in the ways of fate
yours is the hand but not the means to guide
the angry heart away from paths of pride

the words come clear by thought they're not unkind
and say those things that wisdom would intend
in careful thought there's nothing here to mend
so to say truth we're in no sort of bind
no trap no evil case has been defined
nor have we with fell beings to contend
our choice is clear the task is to defend
the facts about the kingdom of the blind
where anyone would go to find the pain
within the heart of he who built the fort
is not for me right now to speak or say
enough to note the hauteur and distain
for those who came up just a bit too short
or did not understand when it was day

the southern aspect of a season's tale
when clouds have parted and the days advance
with kinder sunlight into springs expanse
just at the point where hearts might seek to fail
is our new vantage right here we inhale
both air and sound the enemies of chance
encourage hearts to feel the hope of dance
and with a new enlightenment to sail
good airs inspire the lungs and cause the feet
to find their rhythm with the season’s change
in a new blend that came from over sea
a deeper wiser measure of the street
bringing homeward what was once so strange
to make us in the end a bit more free