The Man and the Mission
Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 3:27 pm
I turn my head to see the people
The chariot of my soul swings low
My breath stops as the wind blows around me
And I survey the land of the lost
My ears catch the cries of dying men
Sun scorches faces lined by grief
Fists pounding cups of ice
Each blow tallying the human cost
Tears fall on hot pavement
Heat rising from the ground hides angels'wings
We sit in this hell together and contemplate
The bride of Christ we are preparing
The wheels turn mercilessly
I turn my head wearily toward the homeless children
Playing in the filthy street, trying to find happiness in its hungry dust
I've seen this place before.
The old souls line up and jostle for the chance
To see what's become of their world
In the middle of this heat, so cold
Ice castles and flyers, festive graveyard
No one knows where the bones of the great chief lie
They are walking on his grave, drinking his blood with ever glass of stolen wine
And the people of the wind are dying in the sun
My chariot fades and my feet touch the earth
Another nameless face signifying a pointless life.
But I still hear the call of the mission bells
Looking out over the plains to the mountains
How far the soul might fly, but the white man's prisons
Block out tge sky and kill our dreams.
Our souls are like wingless gulls
Digging through the refuse of the earth
Our feathers darkened by the disdain of the privileged
Eyes seared by the invincible sun
I feel the eyes of an old man raining tears
Weeping for lost dreams and lost souls
We are such stuff as dreams are made on,
Said the bard,
And for this man the journey is closing
But the mission remains
The ghost notes of a ghost bell
Sending its unearthly call to arms
To any who hear.
The chariot of my soul swings low
My breath stops as the wind blows around me
And I survey the land of the lost
My ears catch the cries of dying men
Sun scorches faces lined by grief
Fists pounding cups of ice
Each blow tallying the human cost
Tears fall on hot pavement
Heat rising from the ground hides angels'wings
We sit in this hell together and contemplate
The bride of Christ we are preparing
The wheels turn mercilessly
I turn my head wearily toward the homeless children
Playing in the filthy street, trying to find happiness in its hungry dust
I've seen this place before.
The old souls line up and jostle for the chance
To see what's become of their world
In the middle of this heat, so cold
Ice castles and flyers, festive graveyard
No one knows where the bones of the great chief lie
They are walking on his grave, drinking his blood with ever glass of stolen wine
And the people of the wind are dying in the sun
My chariot fades and my feet touch the earth
Another nameless face signifying a pointless life.
But I still hear the call of the mission bells
Looking out over the plains to the mountains
How far the soul might fly, but the white man's prisons
Block out tge sky and kill our dreams.
Our souls are like wingless gulls
Digging through the refuse of the earth
Our feathers darkened by the disdain of the privileged
Eyes seared by the invincible sun
I feel the eyes of an old man raining tears
Weeping for lost dreams and lost souls
We are such stuff as dreams are made on,
Said the bard,
And for this man the journey is closing
But the mission remains
The ghost notes of a ghost bell
Sending its unearthly call to arms
To any who hear.