Kingfisher

Whose is the hand that I will hold?

Whose is the face I will see?

Whose is the name that I will call

When I am called to meet thee?

In this life who did you love

Beneath the drifting ashes?

Beneath the sheeting banks of air

That barrenly bore our rations?

When I could speak it was too late

Didn't you hear me calling?

Didn't you see my heart leap like

A pup in the constant barley?

In this new life where did you crouch

When the sky had set to boiling?

Burnin' within; seen from without

And your gut was a serpent coiling

And for the sake of that pit o' snakes

For whom did you allay your shyness?

And spend all your mercy and madness and grace

In a day beneath the bending cypress?

It was not on principle

Show, pro-heart, that you have got gall

A miracle!

I can bear a lot but not that pall

I can bear a lot but not that pall

Kingfisher, sound the alarm

Say,