Advice to My Friends

I bargain for a balanced view of time,
I wrestle for position with the clock,
We jostle, and remorselessly we mock
Each other's efforts as we try to climb
Towards a lesser horror than this slime,
And fight for footholds in a filthy rock,
Like wolves among an unprotected flock
Who find themselves too busy for the crime.

We battle senselessly, for sheer desire,
Pet theories of the origins of fire,
Or useless formulas for vanishing,
While time slips by and leaves us wondering
How night has fallen. We should form a choir
To teach our swamp-rat neighbours how to sing.