This is a potent cup
And it does not pass from us
But we cup it in our hands
We become drunk with pain, with love
But above all, with willpower
That all this shall not have been in vain
That though the tunnel has been dark
There has always been a light, at the end of it
We step into it, taller
Stronger than at the start
Battle-weary yet glad for it all
In spite of the wars we saw, the disease we fought
The emptiness which would not fill for anything,
Not with power, money, family or fame
But which we find in the end we found was a vast hole
That didn't need filling in
But for us to climb up out of it
Into the wholeness of the daylight
We see tenderly,
Our own attempts to bury ourselves alive
With warm, soft earth
With our ruinous desires
We think ourselves so brave
Brave enough even to murder our dearest friend
Us
Yes, it has all been disaster
When I go walking in the garden to whisper secrets to the flowers
There are thorns and snakes and the very little bees which
Grow the flowers
Find me offensive
And harm me
We reach out to do good wherever we can
And people we deeply adore
Tear our limbs from us
To give all that you have, is yet
Never enough
One is never safe
No decision ever spared one of us a life free of sadness
Even our beloved God's favorites
Grew old and died
With calloused feet and thirsty lips
Only hope and a gentle kiss to leave with
The best of us falter
And fail
We fight, and are petrified of the smallest things
We hide in the cities where the stars won't remind us how small we are
Each of us like a grain of sand
Which has never even seen the ocean yet
In spite of all this
I am as happy as ever
Though I suffer, oh yes
And all those I love more dearly than myself too
Every day I wake up, sleepy and tousled
To find life happening still
Flowers blooming, autumn bursting to life
Rain falling soft on the windowpane
Or sunlight calling me outdoors
Somedays I crumple and cry foul
The ways of the Maker and the Made
Oh, but I know better
In my soul of souls
Everything that burns in my sight
Is reborn more powerful, more lovely
From the healthy ash
Everyone to whom I have said goodbye
My irrepressible, beautiful God
Has said hello to, in the same moment
And both our hearts are light
Tonight
And it does not pass from us
But we cup it in our hands
We become drunk with pain, with love
But above all, with willpower
That all this shall not have been in vain
That though the tunnel has been dark
There has always been a light, at the end of it
We step into it, taller
Stronger than at the start
Battle-weary yet glad for it all
In spite of the wars we saw, the disease we fought
The emptiness which would not fill for anything,
Not with power, money, family or fame
But which we find in the end we found was a vast hole
That didn't need filling in
But for us to climb up out of it
Into the wholeness of the daylight
We see tenderly,
Our own attempts to bury ourselves alive
With warm, soft earth
With our ruinous desires
We think ourselves so brave
Brave enough even to murder our dearest friend
Us
Yes, it has all been disaster
When I go walking in the garden to whisper secrets to the flowers
There are thorns and snakes and the very little bees which
Grow the flowers
Find me offensive
And harm me
We reach out to do good wherever we can
And people we deeply adore
Tear our limbs from us
To give all that you have, is yet
Never enough
One is never safe
No decision ever spared one of us a life free of sadness
Even our beloved God's favorites
Grew old and died
With calloused feet and thirsty lips
Only hope and a gentle kiss to leave with
The best of us falter
And fail
We fight, and are petrified of the smallest things
We hide in the cities where the stars won't remind us how small we are
Each of us like a grain of sand
Which has never even seen the ocean yet
In spite of all this
I am as happy as ever
Though I suffer, oh yes
And all those I love more dearly than myself too
Every day I wake up, sleepy and tousled
To find life happening still
Flowers blooming, autumn bursting to life
Rain falling soft on the windowpane
Or sunlight calling me outdoors
Somedays I crumple and cry foul
The ways of the Maker and the Made
Oh, but I know better
In my soul of souls
Everything that burns in my sight
Is reborn more powerful, more lovely
From the healthy ash
Everyone to whom I have said goodbye
My irrepressible, beautiful God
Has said hello to, in the same moment
And both our hearts are light
Tonight
