Quick, running up the stairs, do you see what I see out through the window pane, past the leaves into the trees Birds fly, birds fly, two, three, four, five one stays, one stays there
And my sisters laugh at him, "Do you see what he is doing? It looks like he's talking to the branches." "Oh come down, right now, don't dilly dally," mother's calling "Children, it's time for supper."
But I stay up to it, I lock myself inside my bedroom Thinking about what I was seeing. Nobody watching, so I pressed my ear up to the glass To see if I could hear what he was saying.
He said, It's concrete and stone, and this old skin's just a bag of bones, all life is is a simple breath blood through veins air to our heads,
We have something more than this.
Oh he is an old one with feathers falling, colors greying Voice is tired from his song and look in his black eyes, and your proudest stories are worth telling I know I'll never get to hear them.
'Cause days pass, weeks pass, nights are long and days get shorter Cold wind blows from the east And my brothers speculate that he's lost his marbles, he's gone crazy I heard a much different story
He said,
I lost my mother when I was much younger to a cat with big paws and big claws. And my daddy left me when I was a baby for worms, and caterpillars and warmer places.
We have something more than this.
So snow falls, snow falls, fingers curling, noses icy we all go out to fetch him and snow falls, snow falls, a cardboard casket, kerchief on it Now I know, I know, I know
Snow falls, snow falls, I am crying, mother's calling I know I must go And snow falls, snow falls, I am crying, mother's calling I go, I go, I go
Springs comes, children play, babies born and flowers blooming I will never forget him
Concrete and stone, and this old skin's just a bag of bones, all life is is a simple breath blood through veins air to our heads,