Belacqua's prayer
So
So you think you can tell
Demagoguery from democracy
You think you can distinguish
Allusion from illusion
Erosion from devotion
The hills of Purgatory from the depths of Hell
So you think you can tell
Did they teach you to sing
Did they teach you to hope
To sift through Götterdämmerung
To draw a new dawn
Did they show you the ropes
Strung tight in a chasmous yawn
Between what is
And what could be
Does your inner eye see
Did they teach you to be free
To fight the trolls and troll them well
So you think you can tell
Tell me, then
So that I may tell.
Teach me, then
So that I may be a teacher
Tightroping the neurones
Even when it’s tough
Bracing for a fall
And hoping
it will be enough
To save us all