Unknown Girl Poem by jim hogg

You never held your breath you said
You never promised that you would
and winter rolled down from the pole
I watched the flakes fall through the blind
a blur of white all over town,
a frieze of time all over now
and took to reading history

and took to reading history
I thought I understood
but I was flying blindly
through the mountains of the heart
vain cathedrals of the mind
with the innocent and wild
all the hordes of shackled free
all the hordes of shackled free

And I was blind with certainties
Just like some fool who would be christ
I set off with my plans and dreams
and aimed to gain great distances
but left them lying under siege
by liars, dwarves, forgetfulness
and turned my back on poverty

and turned my back on poverty
I thought I understood
but I was flying blindly
through the fountains of the heart
Sweet deceptions of the mind
with the warriors of lies
and the vultures of the soul
and the vultures of the soul

And you were watching from the wings
believing all life's lies would fall
until they all were saved by saints
who never gave a damn for truth
or dreams of making good from ill
and now the leaves of life drift down
in league with some false harmony

in league with some false harmony
I thought I understood
but I was flying blindly
'cross the deserts of the heart
round the spirals of the mind
by the lure of noble cause
from the cross to Wounded knee
from the cross to Wounded knee

Now I've no nobler axe to grind
than building walls against the tide
with not a moment left to spare
for spending wisely all we have
between the rainbow and the rain
between your eyes and sudden wings
the ending of all mystery

the ending of all mystery
I thought I understood
but I was flying blindly
with the phantoms of the heart
sweet concoctions of the mind
from Jerusalem to here
on the run from broken gods
on the run from broken gods

And now the ploughs have broken through
with hounds, to clear the streets of dreams
and from the other side of town
your breathing fogs the window pane
and fades as hushed as snow on snow
to leave me searching through the sky
for ties to bind the crumbling cliff

For ties to bind the crumbling cliff
I thought I understood
but I was stumbling blindly
through the caverns of the heart
and the mazes of the mind
by the patterns in the flakes
in the wind that blows the sand
in the wind that blows the sand





(song)