Shhh...can you hear me?
I'm hardly a pin
I'm hardly a mile away
Shhh...do you know the pain I'm in?

Look...can you see me?
I'm hiding behind shadowed eyes
And a mask of smiles
Look...will you look past the honest lies?

Taste...can you palate the bitterness?
Sharp and acrid accusations
Dancing on wagging tongues
Taste...will you swallow what is given?

Touch...can you feel my failing muscles?
Every fibre losing this very battle
A futile fight I must concede
Touch...will you save the pieces that crumble?

Read...can you make sense of my heart?
Pounding behind its bony cage
Pumping red into my desperate nib
Read...can you understand the ink staining my page?

Shhh*...can you hear me?
I don't think you can
For I have ceased to speak
In the universe of man

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.

There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.

And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune,
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long,
And the forests will echo with laughter.

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind?

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.

And she's buying a stairway to heaven.

Is anybody out there
Is anybody home?
Is anybody out there
Is anybody home?

The lights are shinning in my eyes
I can't see a thing,
the silence is
so deafening,
I can sing,
I can dance,
but
My words are falling
into dust and ash,
Is there anybody
out there?
Is there anybody
home?

I know there are
so many times
I know I need to
be alone.
I can hear my
voice a whispering
I can hear my songs
being sung
into this empty silence
even before I have
begun.

A satellite without a planet
a planet without a sun
a motherless child at the park
without a room to call
her own,
a life without a tomb,
Is there anybody
out there?
Is there anybody
home?

A heart without
a lover,
empty pages
without a story
time with no beginning
time without an end.

A freeway with no exit,
a ticket without a destination
a sunrise without a plan,
soaring with no place to land.

It's hard to be a god
in this universe alone
and all your creations
have taken the first bus home,
as the house lights fade
and
the last intermission is done
and
no one is listening
and
no one is home.