the rolling wheel of time

princes,knaves, and rednecks too,
they all stand in a line,
in a queue of ignorance
for the coming of their time,

they think they see,
they think they hear,
but only wise men know,
that at a time
when things are right,
a day, a month, a year,
Fate will come and take them all
away some darkening night;

the troubles of the future
lie in a snarling web,
hopes come in upon the flood
and fear leaves with the ebb.

1974