Goodbye my Mary my child Hold my place with this kiss I’ll be home when the sun’s climbing high I’m building a boat just to sink Morning kicked stones down the road One thousand miles rolling south Axe heads sparked all the day all the night They’ll dull ‘fore the sun goes down Goodbye my Mary my child Hold my place with this kiss I’ll be home when the sun’s climbing high I’m building a boat just to sink Click clack comes the cart cut the hours down Pack em in and tie em round When night comes Im’a take them away Wind me up for the morning Cat’s cradle gonna fall in Find me some new game to play Goodbye my Mary my child Hold my place with this kiss I’ll be home when the sun’s climbing high I’m building a boat just to sink September went under the bus The cracks opened up I peered through Bought seeds to measure the months Sowed under a new born moon Blue bells to whip up the sea Lion’s teeth did take to the wind He didn’t come home that year She still holds the place on her

We walked out west whistling a shaky tune Beneath the watchful eyes of the guardians of the moon And we pressed our knuckles to the earth it pushed back We left off a glinting cairn another notch in the sand Iron bars segregate the light on sprawling clay Lends a note of geometric grace to penetrate the day There’s room enough between these trees to feel a soul slip free This canopy cuts shards and splinters mirror scatterlings By and by at Kissing Point we let our feet sink in A patch of sky to float our prayers if He might still listen in The waters swirled and bubbled as the land was changing shape A whisper ran from leaf to leaf as the forest stirred awake This river knows my name yeah it’s seen the world unfold Branch to crooked branch tried to cross the river closed It takes a man of wandering hand down between its shores And when the mangroves rise you know they’re pushing down below

Mama I’m reborn Mama with my own eyes The sky and everything beneath’s untorn Mama my legs are light No distance from the start I set sail and I arrived I was looking out the window And fell straight out of the night These sun caught flecks riding on a ripple’s crest And they call for the gods to watch on But they’ve seen it all before and when the curtain falls They’ll pick up their bags and move on I had a dream And 28 long years I slept Built a cage and I called it mine Wrapped it round my head But when the bars did break I fell out like a circus act Danced down by the railroad tracks I fell back into their laps Sun caught flecks riding on a ripple’s crest And they call for the gods to watch on But they’ve seen it all before and when the curtain falls They’ll pick up their bags and move on These walls they go up by my hands Brick by brick I got the days to feed I’m gonna march across this land I’ll walk my way back down the line I might’ve slipped but a moment back I caught a moondrop in my eye But mama my lips are sealed I’d tell oh but it’s bound to rust Crumble off at a common touch Mama it’s a falling leaf I’ll trace it on your nose Break it so it grows a wing Sing it down and through your toes Mama it’s a pretty thing I’m a sun caught fleck riding on a ripple’s crest And I’m calling the gods to watch on But they’ve seen it all before and when the curtain falls They’ll pick up their bags and move on These walls they go up by my hands Brick by brick I got the days to feed I’m gonna march across this land Then I’ll walk my way back down the line I might’ve slipped but a moment back I caught a moondrop in my eye I might’ve slipped but a moment back I caught a moondrop in my eye

I like the morning lights Ghostrider flying down 60k an hour Crooner scratching at the trodden earth I open wide and swallow up this town And the cars pass by But I ain’t left behind Bags of sand a half smoked cigarette I finally got that park right by the front door Now I’m walking onto a movie set Forgot to get that paint up off the floor Kiss the girls goodnight Bronte burst behind my eyes And comes a flash and then it drags You might as well see what’s waiting round the bend There’s a joker hiding in your hand But don’t lay it down no matter where you stand Then it’s just another day Mop the floor forget the paint A black hole wanders place to place Light rushes in to fill its wake What a jungle brick and wire And the same rules apply And comes a flash and then it drags You might as well see what’s waiting round the bend There’s a joker hiding in your hand But don’t lay it down no matter where you stand Do you see the tunnel lights Stretching on and on until they disappear Oh my head’s on fire March I’m piling stores for the new year In March I’m piling stores for the new year

Of mountain stones taste the water In the river bed Flowing clear across the border Turning brown to match the land I held you under my foot I couldn’t see you apart from nail and tooth I’m floating to the sea now And you’re there by my side Our bodies bending with the current Rising falling with the tide I saw you tender and it turned me A different cast of light wiped the pastways clean Fish rush up to the surface To make contact with the air There’s a gulf between the movement And the ripples how they spread I’m going away and I’m asking the sea Please have mercy on these walls This slow retreat

I walked out of the garden gate Looking for a place to sit Looking for a place That just might take my worried hands in it Shadows crept across my feet I felt the roots snake underneath Then the earth did ripple And I ran off to the whipping I came into a village soon Of polished glass and mirrors The townsfolk held my hand They took me in and served me dinner But their eyes filled up like honey drops As they asked me about my business Their features swelled all over ripe In all the glass and mirrors Back down the road I came unto A mighty willow tree Upon whose roots was sat a boy He was whistling through his teeth I asked him if he knew the way Back to the old country He asked me if I knew my name Oh what could you possible mean So I went down to the crossroads It just kicked my feet And laid me out there on the ground Looking up at a signpost bleeding It lost the words it used to bear And I fingered fallen letters The carousel swam all around my head But I couldn’t find a way in I woke next day to the stirring of A soft and silver breeze On feet fresh as the Springtide I made my way beneath the eaves I reached out to the open land And I touched it and it trembled I just might find my way tonight But it whispered come and join us

Coming up I’m coming round I’m listening to the sound Of my head as it hums To the beating of the drum And it don’t pause not for air Take a breath it’s still there It keeps on rolling on Yeah it keeps on rolling on The spin makes me weak Around the bend I hug the bank Until I drift off again On the slant of someone’s pen Or the bubbling of a child Oh I know we’re bound to try To give love a brand new smile A cripple curse on my jaded lies I’m playing tricks on my mind Until it does what I like Till my rambles don’t exist Except as songs that don’t make sense But to me they do Oh they’re my stepping stones to you And everything you give me I want to give you back Everything you give me I want to give you back I’ve gotta run around To keep my head up off the ground And the sun in its place It drips when I wait Or try to kill the time Sometimes there’s so much killing time Let’s hang it by the sleeves And spin it round until it’s dry Cuff links are a pretty noose to hang from Time to time I wanna build a treehouse in my mind Where I can hide A place where I can rest Before I take another leap Back into the mess of interweaving strings and ties But it always seems so perfect when I see the strings and ties I wanna wrap them tight around me all those strings and ties And pinball bouncing off the sides