Lost Horizon

Our plane went down in the mountain snow, but I was alive I walked on ice in the thin air, the only way to survive Then on a ledge, I saw that light, a valley pure and green With rivers rolling, flowers blooming, almost like a dream. I stumbled down a narrow path to find a monastery gate From probable death to verdant life, I seized my change of fate An old monk gave a smile on an ageless face He led me to gardens within gardens, a place to meditate. I met the Lama, and he said, "It's good here, but here’s the deal This place don't age, and folks don’t change, it’s a place for wounds to heal But climb those mountains, break those walls, and boy, you’ll surely see That out there time still moves, and freedom isn't free" I stayed ten years in the gardens, a story never told Then I met a woman on a path, such radiance to behold I told her, "Darlin’, this ain’t home, it don’t change and there's no goal Come with me, I know a place to make you whole." "It's got Ponderosa Pine and mustangs run and eagles fly My Dad is a rancher, Mom teaches under that big sky I have so many friends there, if you come, you'll see I wish now she hadn't listened, because freedom isn't free. She took my hand, we climbed that wall, balanced on a ledge, Between paradise and a snowy realm, we teetered on the edge I knew we had to go, pulled her into time's flow To a grounded planet where I hoped we both could grow. The helicopter found us, landed safe on that frozen lake She looked into the icy mirror, but the ice began to break Her reflection showed a face grown old, I felt the sudden chill Her movements became slower, but I was hoping still. I reached out once more, but she died outside the door She should have stayed in Shangri La, it shook me to the core. I did make it home, but they've broken rules here too It's not the same as it was, not grounded in what's true Less room for us to grow, a lesson Dad taught me You're fooled by utopia, then find that freedom isn't free, There's a lost horizon somewhere and I sometimes feel the call. Because we've long left Eden's garden, and we're in free-fall.