Such Small Ale

We should step out
From under this cloud
Take chance to meet daylight
Abandon the crowd
Let's pack off the ghosts
So late to their beds
With a hand-tied of lavender
To gentle their rest
What have we here for tether?
Our own restraint
Which sprite are we appeasing
With this long-recited litany
Of grievous shame?
Heathens brewing virtue
From a reservoir of pain
With life for drink
From brim to brink
Who'd choose to sink in such small ale
We should step out
From under this shroud
Warming bones in the dapple light
With the choosing still ours
What is here to keep us
But our own restraint?
Whose sins are we redeeming
With our much-beleaguered retinue
Of bleeding saints?
What heathen waits to rest by sleeping?
Hold your creeping tears to fill a pail
For pity's sake
It's such small ale
For what else is there to keep us
But our own restraint?
What nature do we sweeten in our reservoir
Of bitter rain?
This drowning game
Blow these seething years to fill a sail
With life for drink
From brim to brink
Who'd choose to sink in such small ale
We won't sink in such small ale