Version III (Last stanza removed)
The longer
life is lived
the more
normality
becomes
less the norm
and more
something to be grasped.

Cain, friend of Kyle,
would never be able -
that we knew.
Would never conjugate
foreign verbs
or get to grips with

Milton.

Quadratic equations
were always an enigma, yet

that ancient tractor
which once lay fallow
in the field
was now beginning
to take shape
under his expert hands.

The more
attainments fail
to hit the spot
the less
achievements
seem to count
in the scheme

of things.


Version II
The longer
life is lived
the more
normality
becomes
less the norm
and more
something to be grasped.

Cain, friend of Kyle,
would never be able -
that we knew.
Would never conjugate
foreign verbs
or get to grips with

Milton.

Quadratic equations
were always an enigma, yet

that ancient tractor
which once lay fallow
in the field
was now beginning
to take shape
under his expert hands.

The more
attainments fail
to hit the spot
the less
achievements
seem to count
in the scheme

of things.

While the world
strives to gain possessions,
Cain, friend of Kyle,
shows the world that
he is able.



Version I
The longer
life is lived
the more
normality
becomes
less the norm
and more
something to be grasped.

The more
attainments fail
to hit the spot
the less
achievements
seem to count
in the scheme

of things.