Calm bamboo sandals adorn my soles
Tapping along stone tiles
Soaked in the Sun
Red flags float along the Summer breeze
Blown by the wind
Like dandelion seeds

Suspended in the sultry July air
The kiss of first-lovers
The sweetness of a pear
Lost between pillars on an ardent August eve
A friend beside the river
A dream upon a stair

O this city of stone, this city of wax
This city we carry
On all of our backs
This city of stone, this city we adore
This city will rise
And rise forevermore

This city above the sea, built up upon the clouds
This city of fortune
And freedom's sweet sound
When the new sky has come and the old one is gone
This city will forever
Be where I belong

Are you
In pain
Or in the ground?

Would you prefer
Silence
Or no sound?

Are you
Homeless
Or in debt?

Would you prefer
Disappointment
Or regret?


Are you
Deceased
Or confused?

Unmarried
Or abused?

Are you
Single
Or alone?

Alone
Or on your own?


When the long nights come
In a world that's all wrong

Where there are two wrong sides
To every bed
Where every sword
Has a double edge

Will you rebel
Or make a change?
Will you walk through hell
Or stay the same?

Will you use your anger
Or succumb to rage?
Will you play the part
Or take the stage?

The night sky's
One great eye
Followed every step
I placed
Along paths
Rain displaced
Along streets
We traced
Reflected on puddles
With one jump came crashing
You looked up expecting
An explosion
In the sky
Fragments of the eye
Mother's broken plate
Father's hand across
Your face
You waited with a sigh
And a disappointing taste
Filled your mouth
What a waste
You thought is life
Without strife
And
Without love
As the moon shone
Staring down from above
And we continued on our way
Tempted to live
Another day

The leaves were prisms of glass
Light scattered in every direction
Flowing green over stream and bush
Warm and lovely and lush
I stopped to stare through honey-filled eyes

The softly winding gravel path
Marked my way between the trees
Birds sang and flew between their nests
Sporting their technicolour crests
Leaves drifted through the summer breeze

I could not prevent my pleasant smile
Or so you had told me some other time
The rushing water tessellating, sparkling
And alive with the spirit of joy
Drowned out my often crowded mind