O Lord of our Days,
                                  save us from the standard-setters;
                                  the hush-voiced counsellors;
                                  the inspectors; the auditors;
                                  the therapists and the charterers;
                                  the petition-makers;
                                  the ethical advisers.

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                                  Please keep us from the clutches
                                  of all doctors, lawyers and accountants.
                                  Spare us the priests and law-makers:
                                  (anyone in a long black gown).

                                  Close our ears to the lying politicians.

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                                  Let us creep softly into fat-arsed middle age
                                  without the child within withering away.
                                  And when our minds become fuddled with years,
                                  or drink, or straitened thoughts,
                                  keep a few crystals of truth
                                  alive in some bright corner.

                                  Let not madness, nor yet cold sanity
                                  overtake us.

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                                  And when the time comes
                                  to switch off the light,
                                  Do it quickly.

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                                  But not just yet.