To A Teacher

C 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? 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 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 G C F C F