ALL THIS TIME

I looked out across The river today, I saw the city in the fog and an old church tower Where the seagulls play. I saw the sad shire horses walking home In the sodium light I saw two priests on the ferry October geese on a cold winter's night And all this time, the river flowed Endlessly to the sea. Two priests came round our house tonight One young, one old, to offer prayers for the dying To serve the final rite, One to learn, one to teach, Which way the cold wind blows Fussing and flapping in priestly black Like a murder of crows And all this time, the river flowed Endlessly to the sea If I had my way I'd take a boat from the river And I'd bury the old man, I'd bury him at sea Blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the earth Better to be poor than a fat man in the eye of a needle And as these words were spoken I swear I hear The old man laughing, ‘What good is a used up world, and how could it be Worth having' And all this time the river flowed Endlessly like a silent tear And all this time the river flowed Father, if Jesus exists, Then how come he never lived here. The teachers told us, the Romans built this place They built a wall and a temple, an edge of the empire Garrison town, They lived and they died, they prayed to their gods But the stone gods did not make a sound And their empire crumbled, 'til all that was left Were the stones the workmen found And all this time the river flowed In the falling light of a northern sun If I had my way I'd take a boat from the river Men go crazy in congregations But they only get better One by one One by one One by one... One by one...