Perched Upon a Hill So High

(Cavendish)

Perched upon a hill so high

distant from the rest

a sanctuary from the world below

where hearts and minds contest

a fortress built of inner strength

a world once then twice removed

I gather thoughts to battle strife

To sooth souls unsoothed

Life in all of its din and clash

In a battle endlessly unfolding

Dissipates in distant thoughts

To dreams unnerved, remolding

Cleverly the plans construed

The snares reset unending

To me dissipates as senseless noise

As hopes and fears new blending

All the world a clever fool

A foolish heist of wit

Is to me a parody of human heights

Of heart and mind’s sad split

I turn my head in sad defeat

In wasteless useless toil

And find again this safe retreat

This secret sacred soil

All of my senseless striving it seems

has had no voice at all

I turn without a comment to one

and retreat beyond this wall

a new day will perhaps be born

and perhaps never come to be

and those who have striven to change this world

will see history yet unfree

Copyright Eric Wasiolek Cavendish 1994