To A Teacher

C

[Verse 1]
C
Hurt once and for all into silence
C
A long pain ending without a song to prove it
                   F
Who could stand beside you so close to Eden,
F
When you glinted in every eye the held-high
         C
razor, shivering every ram and son?

[Verse 2]
C
And now the silent loony bin, where
C
The shadows live in the rafters like day-weary bats,
F
Until the turning mind, a radar signal, lures them to exaggerate
C
Mountain-size on the white stone wall
G               C
Your tiny limp

[Verse 3]
F
How can I leave you in such a house?
F
Are there no more saints and wizards to praise their ways with pupils,
C
No more evil to stun with the slap of a wet red tongue?
G
Did you confuse the Messiah in a mirror
                                 C
and rest because he had finally come?
        F
Let me cry help beside you, Teacher
F
I have entered under this dark roof
           C
As fearlessly as an honoured son enters his father's house