Thus I Wrote

I asked if my Martini
Was shaken or slowly stirred
I tried understanding Pollock
And his views, of the world
In an apartment in Wall street
I waited for her, to allow
I used to worry much more then
I don’t worry, so much now

I held on to her
Like a crucifix of gold
But I held on too tight
Or so a sage, later told
On the stage I was anxious
For my turn, to take a bow
I used to worry much more then
I don’t worry, so much now

And I had this baggage
That I dragged behind
In a battered suitcase
That’s common enough, to find
But the skin, it was too thin
I felt uncomfortable, somehow
I used to worry much more then
I don’t worry, so much now

I was a little man
They said I was distant and mean
I was not honest enough
And my motives, were not clean
These seeds of change they buried
With the tip, of their plough
I used to worry much more then
I don’t worry, so much now

We said many things
That can never be unsaid
And who will forgive us now,
For all the mistakes, we’ve made?
I’ve prayed for some cool hand
To stroke, my fevered brow
I used to worry much more then
I don’t worry, so much now

I wait at the cross
Of two great roads
I was given my quest
I was told what I owed

The wine in the glass
Was red from the sun
It dripped from her lips
And to the earth it did run

Like precious stones
Her eyes they shone
Her laughter was the drug
That I was hooked on

And the earth it moved
And the wind it blew
And the seeds they fell
And the trees they grew

I fought in the night
Something I couldn’t see
I stabbed at its heart
But the blood came from me

Her lash on my skin
It cut and ripped through
The blood I let run
To sow something new

I wait at the cross
Of two great roads
I show what I’ve paid
I reap what I’ve sowed

And so I cross
The river at its ford
My cloak and my staff
Hide my head from the world

I follow the raven
Through twisted black hills
I am weary from travel
But must travel more still

I kneel and I pray
To a God I don’t know
I wait for the rain
And the thunder to go

I find pure water
By a single green tree
And the sun, it still shines
In the sky for me.

Is it a strange destiny
That brings me here.
Or am I just running
From something I fear.

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 have fears
They are vampires
In the dark of my mind
But they shrivel
In the light
That is what I find

Can you call?
My vampires out?
With promises of love today?
If you ignore me
They will just grow
Despite what I say

So hold my hand
And let me in
To be a part of you
Listen to me
Please accept me
And all of my faults too

Oh Love
You are the balm
You’re the saviour of my soul
You bathe me
You soothe me
And you make me whole

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