five miles to midnight

Yes, yes, the past gets in the way;

it trips us up, bogs us down; it complicates, makes difficult.

But to ignore this is folly, beacuse, above all, 

what history teaches us is to avoid illusion and make-believe,

to lay aside dreams, moonshine, cure-alls, wonder-workings, pie-in-the-sky - 

to be realistic.