The Dim Torchlight

I never dreamed, but I dared To hold the torch and light it I never said that I cared But I let the night be lit I thought that it was easy To spread the beams of torchlight So that young people could see The antidote for twilight My clutching fingers held strong Each had their own aptitude But they could not work for long And with the same altitude The torch truly had its weight -- I and they felt the numbing Worsened by an empty plate And our stomach muttering This deadened arm found cure In the cold mediocrity And in the hot flame then pure Put out by dishonesty I never thought it would be A light to help in one's quest For truth and to make him see Dimly that we lost the best Futile is the torch that glows Vaguely in this chancy time A crag is near, no one knows Letting one trip is a crime The dim torchlight which we hold Makes the night even darker For the promises it told Whose success is yet yonder