Thus I Wrote

I’ve seen the power and  I’ve seen the glory
I was seated at the feast,
I celebrated many ceremonies
I was dark and aloof as a priest.
Somehow I  felt seduced
And that I was asked to betray,
And I felt too excluded
To make an instinctive play.

I was often defeated
But never did I lose,
I felt I had too few options
But I was brave enough to choose.
I sailed the stormy ocean
Till I landed here on this shore,
But I had heard the siren’s song
For a long time before.

I drank into the night
To lose myself for a while,
And sometimes I found a dark portrait
With a face-torn smile.
And I have given my love willingly,
It was not from manacles torn.
But since  then I’ve seen my love die
And I’ve seen something else born.

I was often defeated
But never did I lose,
I felt I had too few options
But I was brave enough to choose.
And all that I want now
Is of no consequence,
For I am but stardust
For this world to dispense.

The hammer falls, steel on steel
The fire, the heat and the dirt
The sweat and chaos of it all
The pleasure and the hurt.
We interact with ceremonies,
And blessed with sweet incense
We’re moulded, yes, we’re forged
In the fire of experience

The truth is handed down
With sacred words burning bright
So they say to control us
So they say to bind us tight
But I have spoken to God
And I’ve said, it doesn’t make sense
He agreed, yes, it’s forged
In the fire of experience

You are born with a clean slate
You build on the best of the past
You do what is effective
To overcome the number cast
And new friendships need a force
To pull them off the neutral fence
To push them, yes, they’re forged
In the fire of experience

I move over shimmering waters,
I see my refection in the deep.
I create what I thought was good,
I sow what I thought I’d reap.
I hear a trumpet sound,
At dawn on a lonely hill.
I see a white bird flying south,
As a lion feeds on its kill.

I see a baby born,
All crying and bloody red.
With his mother’s hair matted,
As she sleeps in her lonely bed.
I dig deep in the earth,
All wet, sticky and black.
I am soaked by the rain,
But I will never turn back.

I see my love measured out,
Into fine, crystal glasses.
All handed out anxiously,
To the next person who passes.
I see my hands rise,
As the rain falls from the sky.
And the mud on my forearms shakes,
With every screaming cry….

I see the sun rise
And fall to the earth again
I see the leaves grow and die
In a forest that still remains
In the evening I await,
The white bird to fly
I’m in need of forgiveness,
And the peace it can buy.

Oh, if you invited me
I could not refuse
I would dive right in
Like I’d nothing to lose

Lead me not into temptation
Because I’m wrong for you
Because I can’t do now
What would be best for you

But oh, to steal a kiss
Just once or twice tonight
As we walk and we talk
In the winter moonlight

Last night was a dream
But now I’m awake
In my head there’s a memory
And in my gut a dull ache

I’m no Dylan
I’m an ordinary man
I’ve worked all my life
I’ve given all I can

I’ve tried to give something
Different and best
I’ve tried to add value
More than the rest

But now I accept
What I’m asked to do
That I’m no Dylan,
That I just muddle through

I pull my ball of lead
It’s connected with a chain
And I’m walking up that hill
In the cold grey rain

I’m looking for love
In my stomach there’s a pain
I’m driven by a need
That serves another’s gain

I’m scared to look at her
Because I’ve seen her class
I feel her measuring me
As I walk on past

She makes her decision
And she takes me by the hand
“I have what you need
If you heed my command”

She takes me to her room
And she throws away the key
But as the seasons pass
The hurt grows in her memory

At dawn I dream
As the dark bleeds from the night
I’m beyond accusations
As I give myself to the light

Look at me now…
I’m shimmering
I’m glowing
Look at me now…
I’m transfiguring
I’m growing
Look at me now …
I’m flying
I’m knowing
Look at me now…

There’s a dark cloud gathering
It’s growing in the east
It smells of old evil
It smells of the beast

There’s a cancer spreading
Into the holes and cracks
Of where a state fails
Or where a state lacks

It provokes with atrocity
It feeds on fear and hate
It feeds on fresh martyrdom
To bind and to create

They’re infected by ideology
That seduces and deceives
These young men will give more
Than they ever will receive

We see violence begets violence
And hate begets hate
And one failed generation
Gives birth to the next

So can we contain them?
Can we leave them to their fate?
Inside a wall of isolation
Can we leave them to their state?

And let them show the world
Their struggle of brutal seeds
To grow into a society
That will meet all of their needs

The majestic mountains
With white snow on the top
The green forests and the valleys
That glisten with raindrops
I’ve travelled the blue oceans
With sails, white and unfurled
Beneath the deep, blue sky
Of our beautiful world

There it spins our beautiful world
There it spins our beautiful world
There it spins our beautiful world
There it spins, again

Einstein found the formula
For general relativity
And Da Vinci was honoured
For his creativity
Mozart he made music
And Picasso had his art
They all gave more than I
But they still had to depart

We give all to our beautiful world
We give all to our beautiful world
We give all to our beautiful world
Then we depart, again

I went into your fields
To sow and to reap
I went into your cities
Where what I win I keep
I built a strong castle
I followed your command
But I found no protection
From your invisible hand

I knocked at your door
For acceptance within
I blew a trumpet
You were not listening
I studied and I learned
To change colour and shape
I climbed over your rejections
To find my place to take

We fight for a place in our beautiful world
We fight for a place in our beautiful world
We fight for a place in our beautiful world
We fight for a place, again

Let’s enjoy the ride
I say to you and me
We are but leaves
On a much bigger tree
And while the sun is out
Let me hold your hand
Love is the earth
In which we stand

We give ourselves to our beautiful world
We give ourselves to our beautiful world
We give ourselves to our beautiful world
We give with love, again

Rock on rock
Hard like rock
Cold like rock
Sharp edged rock

Hard like rock
The calculating machine
I was crushed
Down below and in between

Like a lion
Mistaken as a friend
I forgot the claws
That got me in the end

I was useful
But only for a while
My ideas soon
Were out of style

My greater good
And my integrity
Will be valued
When they later see

Might is right
So my enemies say
They feared my mind
And made my body pay

Not enough love
Stood by my side
They promised forever
But I think they lied

Dare I eat a peach?
Dare I cut my hair?
Shall I buy a new suit?
Something fashionable to wear?

Shall I dance again?
Those musical steps
But shall I learn to tango?
Now more structure is best

Shall I travel again
To see new lands?
With whom shall I talk ?
With whom shall I plan?

I walk on the beach
With the tide coming in
I see the white waves
With the surfers jumping

Like a sirens song
Do they call to me?
To run and join them
With seaweed in the sea?