Seasons

Prologue

This is the turning of the year
The final scene before the curtain falls
The squirrel, warm within his bed of leaves
Cannot hear the wind that blows around the chimney pots
For like the pilgrim of the year gone by, he sleeps

Once he was a young man who laughed in the spring
And lay beneath an upturned sky on long hot summer days
But with autumn, he grows mellow
He looks over his shoulder, down the long year path of no return
Already he is but a memory, fading like a shadow on the wall
But time with restless footsteps hurries by
And now beside the road, there stands the pilgrim of the year to be

Winter Song

Falling leaves turn to gold
Silver flowers on my window
Spirit of the fading year gently slips away
He knows not where, he cannot say, oh no

Naked trees in the sky
Stars are shining clear and cold
Minstrel of the ages sings of oh so long ago
An age old tune without a name, no one knows

In the white falling snow
The pilgrim travels on
His face towards the sun
Beyond the open road, he travels on
Past the lamp shining windows
And faces by the fire
Before the midnight hour
For Christmas time has come around again

Go to sleep, little child
You shouldn't be awake
Go to sleep, little child
Time to let the night go by
Waiting for the sound of a magic sleigh
The chimney's not too tall, they say
Or the roof too high for a reindeer to fly
No, not too high for a reindeer to fly

Clock strikes twelve on a street below
They hurry to a church to pray
Forgive our sins and negligence
Accept our humble penitence
It's been a year ago today
Since we were here

Choir gently sings an anthem
Not too loud or out of key
Congregation turn eye corners
When the plate goes round to see
Who gives the most on Christmas Day
The most on Christmas Day

Twilight days are slipping far away
Just sand into an hourglass
For wintertime is slowly passed
And cannot last forever

North wind, turn your back
Upon the doors that you have blown
West wind, melt the organ pipes
Of ice that glitter on the eaves
Of the houses in the town

And the sun wakes up the flowers
That slumber through the winter
And warms the sleepy faces
Waiting for the spring

Spring Poem

The skies of steel and fields white with frost are memories of yesterday
And while scarecrow children search the hedgerows
And splash through muddy pools for secrets
The spirit of the spring with the sunbeams on her hair
Shakes the sleeping earth and with the pilgrim by her side
She murmurs in the trees and in the ears of all who listen
"Now, time to wake for winter has gone"

Spring Song

Green April comes
With flowers in her hair, she smiles again
And like a child, cares nothing for tomorrow
She spreads her wings
Catch her if you see her in your mind's eye
For she smiles in a Mona Lisa way

Sun is rising from a cloud above your head
When you instead are sleeping
All is knowing, all is growing
And no one knows which way their mind is blowing

Green April comes
And now she finds her work is almost done
And like a child, cares nothing for tomorrow
And like a child, cares nothing for tomorrow
And like a child, thinks only for today

Summer Poem

The pilgrim wanders with the spirit of the spring, enchanted
As if tomorrow will never come but time is running out
And as she bids him farewell, only the echo of her voice remains
For now she flies on the bare back of the south wind
Across the naked mountains, above the winding rivers
Breathing gently on the meadows
Scattering her flowers into the grass and the hedgerows
A vision slowly fading, fading
Fading through the back door into summer

Summer Song

Long summer day
Golden fingers pointing at my doorway
Meadow sleeping
Watching for the sky to turn you on

The air filled with haytime
Dandelion clock time blowing
Past a flower print lady
On a seat in the park
Wears a paper on her head
She never read at all
She's just keeping her mind in the dark
Keeping her mind in the dark

You know she's cool
She's just like an ice cream man
Hey, don't you see what I mean?
She's doing the best that she can
Doing the best that she can

Hey, Mr. Sunshine, like a Harlequin
You're dancing on my picture book today
Ooh it's a good time
I'm a paper kite and I'm floating far away

Drifting alone
Chew on a candy floss in the pouring rain
Kids are crying again
Kids are crying again

Holiday time
Down on a beach with the crowd
Trying to look for the sun
Taking whatever you can
And your deckchair is an island
In a kaleidoscope world

Jamming cars, crowded bars
Stand in trains or smell the drains
The quiver in the heat of the city street
God, I must get away

Hey, Mr. Sunshine
I'm a paper kite and I'm floating far away
I'm a paper kite and I'm floating far away
I'm a paper kite and I'm floating far away
I'm a paper kite and I'm floating far away
I'm a paper kite and I'm floating far away

Autumn Song

Down the wide open road
The pilgrim travels on
His face towards the sun
Beyond the open road, he travels on
And the waves steal the footprints
Of the summer from the sand
Beneath the silver moon
The north wind blows the fading leaves again

Epilogue

Around and around, all has nearly turned full circle
The warm lazy days of sunshine and brown rivers
Winding through the meadows are a tale of yesterday
The pilgrim sighs and draws his mantle close about him in the smoky evening
He watches the leaves wither and fall
Frost has rimmed the pools with ice and hung diamonds in the spider's web

For this is the turning of the year
The final scene before the curtain falls
And now beside the road, there stands the pilgrim of the year to be

Winter Song (Reprise)

Falling leaves turn to gold
Silver flowers on my window
Spirit of the fading year gently slips away
He knows not where, he cannot say