The words came out in a rush
\n‘It’s been a long time,’ they said;
\nStanding chatting at the bus stop.
\nA synopsis of two Worlds, briefly exchanged;
\nThe rocky tips of information stores below the surface
\nWherein every human state is found,
\nAnd thoughts, and deeds, and fears and hopes
\nThat surge in solitary waves,
\nOnly to be dashed against the public weal
\nWhere peer pressure’s ever busy pruning knife
\nClips away the budding shoots of self-knowledge
\nAs, listening to others, our best dissolves
\nTo leave the worst more entrenched
\nIn its runnels of misapplied reason.
\nThen there are the words written by others
\nTo be sold in newspapers
\nTo interpret or misinterpret a theme
\nTo fit a theory, an agenda, a vested interest,
\nAffronting our inlaid views
\nOr pandering to established prejudices.
\nIn some families every penny counts
\nAnd they rub shoulders, but briefly, on the streets
\nUnknowingly with deeper bank accounts,
\nAll crossing and re-crossing life’s pitch
\nWhere a homeless man sells copies of the ‘Issue’.
\nWhere is enlightenment?
\nWhen everything around us is for gain.
\nAnd all the while the politicians pry open principles
\nWhile explorers pore over faded charts.
\nThe momentary grouping stirs
\nWith the sighting of a bus.<\/p>\n
November 1998<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The words came out in a rush ‘It’s been a long time,’ they said; Standing chatting at the bus stop. A synopsis of two Worlds, briefly exchanged; The rocky tips of information stores below the surface Wherein every human state … Continue reading