Too Late

The revelers’ feet are green with fresh crushed grass;
    Black-clad priests dance a snowball fight ballet;
Laden wains come lumbering up the pass
    Hauling our hard-won wealth this longed-for day. 
Somehow bitter failure still succeeded; 
    The bramble’s rough thorns shield a budding rose; 
’Though it’s not the end we thought we needed,
    Still, somehow, it’s the ending that we chose: 
        So sing high, my Lady, sing low, my Lord,
        All the treasures we lost have been restored; 
        But too late my Lady, too soon, my Lord,
        Here comes the naked Dancer with his sword. 

The losing dunce cons the savvy winner;
    The hunter’s crook is heavy with his prey:
Down drips the blood from everybody’s dinner 
    To stain the cold stones of our common way. 
The clubfoot fool proves a clever prancer;
    Hear now the quiet thinker’s victory roar.
The rudest boy returns a gracious answer; 
    It’s time to feast on all we held in store. 
        So be brave my Lady, be bold, my Lord,
        The hills bend down to bear us ’cross the ford. 
        But too late my Lady, too soon, my Lord,
        Here comes the naked Dancer with his sword. 

We bound our arms with ribbons red and black; 
    Bound up our feet with strips of white and red;
Stuffed our mouths with sand; made our jaws go slack;
    Since the only ones spared would be the dead.
The taker’s will is equal to the giver; 
    Tear off all these winding sheets of silk; 
Cast off all your bonds into the river; 
    We live, so spare the cow, we’ll need her milk.  
        So laugh loud, my Lady, laugh long, my Lord,
        Now comes the rule of Those Whom we adored. 
        But too late my Lady, too soon, my Lord, 
        Here comes the naked Dancer with his sword. 

There’s no end to Time, that’s a confusion. 
    Those horsemen four stay home where they should be; 
It’s just the death of all our fond delusions
    That victim was our role eternally. 
A child peeps out within your furtive sight; 
    Each lock is sprung and every door stands wide; 
Amazed, the prisoners stagger into light
    To see the guards and warden changing sides.  
        So live long, my Lady, live well, my Lord
        The Angel’s come to bind the silver cord. 
        But too late my Lady, too soon, my Lord,
        Here comes the naked Dancer with his sword. 

© Larry Haworth 2013