Farewell to a Percival

Farewell to a Percival
So you planned to chip away at trouble
but it left you standing in the rubble
Now, your tears are trapped in crystal puddles
with a stone portrait of your double


And if you begged me to remain around,
would grief keep tearing at your gown?
All the sadness waltzing around your frown
is bound to bring some ceilings down


Now there ain’t no reason my heart will hear,
so you can shed the pickaxe and climbing gear
But, please don’t stand there and watch my back disappear
as I fade into the mountains there


Who's to say the sky is mean
if it stands between you and your kingdom?
They say, some things are meant to be seen
and some things are meant to be kept hidden


All those saints who feed on virtue are ruthless,
saying you need a deed to be so virtuous
And guilt is vainly, plainly discouraged
as we kowtow to their courage


But I saw the glorious, white arch fall
and the great soldier-children were crushed
and all the townspeople looked and saw their shadows,
then had to stay inside and drain their pillows


And I had a dream seven nights in a row,
you were following me through all these doomed places I go
Well, I knew I was weak, but I guess I didn’t know
I was in need of a guardian angel


Who's to say the sky is mean
if it stands between you and your kingdom?
They say, some things are meant to be seen
while some things are meant to be kept hidden


The river I follow has grown so small
that I can’t hardly swallow any strength at all
but the pale fish rotting in its muddy walls,
I know they lost their eyes before they stalled


So I search and I yearn and I barely breathe
and the person who once knew you is no longer me
With my torn, yellow map and my dry canteen,
I can’t stop to count my blessings


Or the curved lines of longitude
I burned, as if they were fuses,
to pass the mirage and land the oasis
where I’m going to fill up all these empty spaces


Who's to say the sky is mean
if it stands between you and your kingdom?
They say, some things are meant to be seen
but some things are meant to be kept hidden


Yes, to pass the mirage and land the oasis
where I’m going to fill up all these empty spaces
and free myself of these earthly races
I’ll send you my thirst, first, and then the laces of my shoes