To keep reason o’er treason
To hold valour o’er time
To hide composer from exposure
When bells o’er us chime

To hold the tongue o’er the heart
To hold one’s self apart
To know today, it must not start
When bells o’er us chime

Like Einstein and Oppenheimer,
Praying, they wished they had
Like Newton and Robespierre,
Who felt their failure’s wrath

Common view o’er common sense
Common health o’er common self
Common tyrant o’er common man
When bells o’er us chime
We keep our heads in line

The Old Masters
Whose rigid fingers
Grind history’s axis
Complacent in complaint,
(Need I say, pessimistic)
Haunt their ancient warnings,
Denouncing new beginnings:

“A ‘but’ will warrant a butt,
An ‘if’ is iffy indeed
‘However’, however, is not all together
And ‘no’: nowhere to be seen”

One vision, one chance,
No remonstrance:
A captain plots his course
A rider guides his horse
A messenger reports
Her majesty retorts
His holiness reforms
Our senses deform
Morality conspires
With reason’s onslaught
Lips pursed, in time:
When bells o’er us chime
We rewrite these lines:
When bells o’er us chime