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Greyhair - Lyrics by Fatima Mansions


Lyrics
Greyhair fool / Shoes undone / The fields ahead / Leaves black as coal
Landmark-free / No walls, No treesto greet him on this night of his return
C--
So who will love this lie on legs who can't change skin and is not yet dead? The universal foreigner The homeless, greyhair son
Scrambles blind up muddy slopethen silent shakes before rusty gates--C
There's a house, its roof caved in
A rusty wreck of car / A lightning-blasted treeand a man who says, "
So here you are--the boy who broke the plough,who struck his father down, who told us to be damnedand betrayed us to the Englishman!""
Who will love this lie on legs? On paving-stones I've made my bed
Not a living soul now speaks my name but here at least I have my shame
I thought to come and taste once more what the priestly fables all ignore:the un-eternal consequence," says the greyhair son
Greyhair fool / Shoes undone / He'll top at dawn / Now hews his plough
Wind blows on / The soil is poison / He sets to work / He and his plough
Final union / He and his plough / Plough

Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry