Into the Woods

Now close your eyes
And open your weary heart
Let me soothe away the woes
Of fiendish world

As will the sun bathe the land
In its warming light
So shall the moon ascend
To guide the day to wane
In turn the rain to hush
The tumult of this world
And the wind to rise
Sigh a lullaby in trees

Not in these troubles times
I'm not the one you pined for
No, not into calmer waters
I'm not the one you long for

But a scarecrow, anathema to the world
Looking in from the outside
It's time to turn my back
Walk off the beaten path
Seek heartening in solitude

The arc of sky is roof where I call it home
Drizzle of rain the only music from now on
My bed is made of juniper's boughs
Of mire and moss my pillow

Not in these troubles times
I'm not the one you pined for
No, not into calmer waters
I'm not the one you long for

But a scarecrow, anathema to the world
Looking in from the outside
It's time to turn my back
Walk off the beaten path
Seek heartening in solitude

Lone footprints diverge from tree line
Autumn veils the sloughs with rime
Shell of quagmire
Yet too frail to bear a man