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cast, adrift, a beach of white sand
we crawled from the waves onto the land
battered and bruised, we embraced the earth
they came from the forest to meet us
welcomed by smiles, we walked for hours
guided past thickets of alien flowers
the streams ran uphill, the sun set in the east
we camped in the shadows of leaves
dined on fruit sweeter than honey
this world is strange, my love, and i am far from home
the sea is wild, my child, and i am far from home
i’ll hold you in my heart wherever i may roam
the fires died sometime in the night
bleary-eyed, we awoke at first light
our guides were gone and we were alone
the path lost in the green
this world is strange, my love, and i am far from home
the sea is wild, my child, and i am far from home
i’ll hold you in my heart wherever i may roam
-
i’m sitting on an empty train
watching the rooftops greet the rain
such an easy distraction
to sit and watch the world glisten
so now are you ready to go?
everything always moves so slow
make a compromise with the rain
try to use a little restraint
i’ve got high hopes
and slow moves
i’m on tightropes
in tiny, tiny shoes
if i fall it won’t be softly
take this rope and bind me tightly
keeping me in the storm’s embrace
holding me in an empty place
i’ve got high hopes
and slow moves
i’m on tightropes
in tiny, tiny shoes
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homeward bound across the moor that howling, haunted night
a long walk in the gloom to clear my head
a fingernail of moon released a pink and sickly light
and the clouds scudded past in yellow shreds.
i heard it first while on the path that winds around the lake
the nearby snarl of a gigantic hound
i spun around; i caught my breath; my hands began to shake
as i stumbled on across the marshy ground
as i stumbled on across the muddy ground
its growl will stop your heart
and oh! the black-eyed dog
beware its fearsome bite
beware! the black-eyed dog
will tear your soul apart
beware if it calls your name at night
beware when it calls your name at night
i tried to run, but soon i felt its hot breath on my heels
and then its jaws closed tight around my spine
and as the feeling left my limbs we danced the barghast’s reel
the hound’s hairy cheek pressed to mine
with the hound’s hairy cheek pressed to mine
and now i lie in bed at home, my blankets at my throat
no longer do i walk upon the moor
my arm is lead, my hand is stone, i cannot play a note
and the black hound howls outside my door
yes the black hound howls outside my door.
its growl will stop your heart
and oh! the black-eyed dog
beware its fearsome bite
beware! the black-eyed dog
will tear your soul apart
beware if it calls your name at night
beware when it calls your name at night
-
lay off your labours and wade ‘cross the rill
follow the riverbank up to the hill
wander the forest and enter the glade
you bring the offerings, i’ll bring the blade
oh we will go to the grove where the leaves dim the light
clad in our robes we will wait for the coming of night
to the green cathedral
to the green cathedral
hand holding hand, we walk into the welcoming dark
(willow and yarrow, oak, hazel and yew)
kneel at the altar, bow to the face in the bark
(poplar and alder, ash, rowan and rue)
blood on our fingertips, we raise our voices in song
(amaranth, terebinth, poppy and pine)
how joyous to finally be in the place we belong
(sycamore, sassafras, ivy and thyme)
in the green cathedral
in the green cathedral
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she can’t sleepshe won’t close her eyes
her limbs are weak and the walls are much too close
in a bed of brandy and morphine–
the languid flow of her warm blood
boil and simmer, roil andshimmer
a struck match flickering out
on the floor
can’t open her eyes
a silent sprawl
and the walls are much too close
in a bed of brandy and morphine–
the languid flow of her warm blood
boil and simmer, roil and shimmer
a dim lamp guttering out
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old friend, we climbed a slow hill
sunlit, ascending
gentle rise, tentative feet
i taste air like a snail
to the sky
scatter and spray
the cliffs between
empty air remembers there
broken stone below
and one bird halfway in space
still, tensile
drifting in air
floating gull
hold your breeze
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i was on the lake
i was underground, I was lost and found and fake
soft bones and steady ache
i was out adrift alone
i swallowed seeds so evergreens could grow
i was the only one to row
until I was just a dent
spiralled deep and talking cheap, unkempt
and my well was almost spent.
i begged an eddy for the shore
and I called to the oaks and the rock beneath
and I called to the open water
there were lights behind the trees
and I grow another limb and I crawl and I stand again
and I didn’t know that it was always there within
like a root in shallow ground
buried boats, dead trees float
hold your hand to the plough
lift your hand to your knife
kiss your children
watch me sleep
bed down sweet in warm straw
bed with oxen and wife
bring her barley
rusting man
can you taste the storm
cracking through your skin, unmoored within, forlorn
as the rings spread out and on
across the faces of the lake
all I offered you was a gold and blue skyscape
and the oars are yours to take
we rode the ripples round again
and we cried to the sky and we called to the deep
and we sang to the trees under water
ancient mud beneath our feet
and you turned to me in fear and found me standing still
on a raft that circles here and maybe always will
those men sank without a sound
skip your stones, find their bones
hold your hand to the plough
lift your hand to your knife
kiss your children
watch me sleep
bed down sweet in warm straw
bed with oxen and wife
bring her barley
rusting man
