The Stroke of Mid-Day
I moved out under the sun
And I tell ya true, my friend
That day was a hot one
My feet found a stony path
It led me to a lizard baking
In a cactus patch
My head was throbbing from the heat
That's when the wise lizard asked me,
"What truths do you seek?"
I laid my body at his throne of thorns
And rest my head inside a cradle
Of broken whitetail horns
The yellow grass became a sea
The purple sky claimed I had died
But my soul was lingering
And lo, from on the mountain
I heard his thunderous voice
The Lizard King in crown and ring
Was offering me a choice and he said:
"Would you care to roll with me
To the hill countries of eternity?
I can give to you the peace you desire
Or I can send you back
Back to where the waters lack
Way back down that stony track
The choice is up to you"
And how I longed to hold his leathery hand
And walk beside him into that endless land
But I rode the solstice sun back across the summer sky
Stepped off at the horizon
That's where we waved goodbye
When I opened up my eyes
My salty skin was being cleansed
By a murder of deer flies
I couldn't move I couldn't scream
And to my utter sorrow the lizard
Was nowhere to be seen
But then inside my mind echoed his sweet voice
When in his vast reptilian mercy
He'd offered up his choice when he'd said:
"Would you care to roll with me
To the hill countries of eternity?
I can give to you the peace you desire
Or I can send you back
Back to where the waters lack
Way back down that stony track
The choice is up to you"
I moved out under the sun
And I tell ya true, my friend
That day was a hot one
My feet found a stony path
It led me to a lizard baking
In a cactus patch
My head was throbbing from the heat
That's when the wise lizard asked me,
"What truths do you seek?"
I laid my body at his throne of thorns
And rest my head inside a cradle
Of broken whitetail horns
The yellow grass became a sea
The purple sky claimed I had died
But my soul was lingering
And lo, from on the mountain
I heard his thunderous voice
The Lizard King in crown and ring
Was offering me a choice and he said:
"Would you care to roll with me
To the hill countries of eternity?
I can give to you the peace you desire
Or I can send you back
Back to where the waters lack
Way back down that stony track
The choice is up to you"
And how I longed to hold his leathery hand
And walk beside him into that endless land
But I rode the solstice sun back across the summer sky
Stepped off at the horizon
That's where we waved goodbye
When I opened up my eyes
My salty skin was being cleansed
By a murder of deer flies
I couldn't move I couldn't scream
And to my utter sorrow the lizard
Was nowhere to be seen
But then inside my mind echoed his sweet voice
When in his vast reptilian mercy
He'd offered up his choice when he'd said:
"Would you care to roll with me
To the hill countries of eternity?
I can give to you the peace you desire
Or I can send you back
Back to where the waters lack
Way back down that stony track
The choice is up to you"
