Liturgy
Like glimmers on the waters
liturgy
reflects a mighty sun;
infinity
cannot be wholly captured
by mere slice.
Beware an over-eager
purity;
to worship as we must requires
synergy,
God with man imperfect
inter-spliced.
Nor disrespect God's great
sublimity,
the light that shines with ceaseless
energy;
see, in shimmer-glimpsing,
paradise.
Winning and Losing
This truth I know, my gentle friend,
a truth as old as thinking man:
if quiet folk conceive no plan,
the course of things can only end,
however well its way begins,
in chaos where the loudest wins.
If cooler heads enforce no law,
the lawless will not stay his hand;
if gentler souls make no demand,
they leave the world to violent maw;
if decent folk rebuke no sins,
the boldest sinner always wins.
Like entropy or wear-and-tear
the wicked prosper as the rules
will of the honest make right fools
if honest men will not beware:
in world of clash and noise and din
the loudest voices surely win.
The vicious virtue always cheat;
their aim is cunning in its way:
convince the good to flee the fray,
that they must nobly seek defeat,
that use of means is work of sin,
that they must let the loudest win.
