In the clear white circles of morning wonder
I take my place with the lord of the hills
And the blue-eyed soldiers stand slightly discoloured
(in neat little rows) sporting canvas frills
With their jock-straps pinching, they slouch to attention
while queueing for sarnies at the office canteen
Saying: "How's your granny?"
and
"Good old Ernie
He coughed up a tenner on a premium bond win"
The legends (worded in
the ancient tribal hymn)
lie cradled in the seagull's call
And all the promises they made are ground beneath the sadist's fall
The poet and the wise man stand behind the gun
and signal for the crack of dawn
Light the sun. Light the sun
Do you believe in the day?
Do you? Believe in the day!
The Dawn Creation of the Kings has begun
Soft Venus (lonely maiden) brings the ageless one
Do you believe in the day?
The fading hero has returned to the night
and fully pregnant with the day
wise men endorse the poet's sight
Do you believe in the day?
Do you? Believe in the day!
Let me tell you the tales of your life
of your love and the cut of the knife
the tireless oppression, the wisdom instilled
the desire to kill or be killed
Let me sing of the losers who lie
in the street as the last bus goes by
The pavements ar empty: the gutters run red
while the fool toasts his god in the sky
So come all ye young men who are building castles
Kindly state the time of the year
and join your voices in a hellish chorus
Mark the precise nature of your fear
Let me help you pick up your dead
as the sins of the father are fed
with the blood of the fools
and the thoughts of the wise and
from the pan under your bed
Let me make you a present of song
as the wise man breaks wind and is gone
while the fool with the hour-glass is cooking his goose
and the nursery rhyme winds along
So! Come all ye young men who are building castles!
Kindly state the time of the year
and join your voices in a hellish chorus
Mark the precise nature of your fear
See! The summer lightning casts its bolts upon you
and the hour of judgement draweth near
Would you be the fool stood in his suit of armour
or the wiser man who rushes clear?