From Within Poem by Albert Ralph

FROM WITHIN (song from a cloud)

Joni saw the clouds from both sides,
But did she see them from within?
I see them mostly from the bottom.
And that don’t make me free from sin.
You know it only stands to reason.
That a man is just a man.
He laughs, and cries, and loves in season.
And lives his life the best he can.

I try to see the world from both sides.
But I have to live here, from within.
There are no golden paths, for most eyes.
The way is straight, the traffic thin.
I take no stock in man’s religions.
I take my guidance from above.
We have to pay for our decisions.
You take your money, I’ll take God’s love.

“Cause He won’t force me to obey Him.
And He won’t tell me what to be.
He just tells me what would please Him.
From there the choice is up to me.

So I’m with Jesus on the road to heaven.
And I read the signposts, along the way.
Though sometimes lost among the sideroads.
I pray I’ll get it right someday.

I’m no better than the next man.
I get high, and I get low.
A hypocrite, you might well call me.
But at least I’m half right, that much I know.
I don’t pretend to be a teacher.
I only pass on what I know.
But go ahead, call me a preacher.
I’ve just got something, I want to show.

Joni saw the clouds from both sides.
But did she see them from within?
I see them mostly from the bottom.
And that don’t make me free from sin.

June 1980

There is a cutout from the Toronto Sun Poets Corner that I keep in my songbook beside the previous song. The poem is by Mary Ann Coward.

To write what you really feel
To be what youreally are
Takes a formidable courage
That few of us ever truly find.
Too aware of the universal someone
Peering over our shoulder
We rationalize
And compromise.
What freedom
To never compromise
And to hell with the repurcussions.