Water On the Rise

The old men say the sea is not forgiving,
That she aches for the living with an
Eternal belly that swallowed her soul.
They say he heard a voice that came from the sky
And it told him what to do to survive,
So he took his axe to the cypress and oak.
He dug the bark and ripped the leaves
That turned poison into air to breathe
And he didn't stop until he'd built a boat.
I was standing on a mountaintop
And I stood still until I saw the water on the rise.
I watched as the buildings fell;
I had so much to say and no one to tell.
I thought of you as his ship went by.
I was the highest point of the planet Earth
But lower than I'd ever been before.
I caught his eye and I saw him smile.
I tried to understand what he'd done.
I weighed what he'd been given
Against what he'd given up.
He gave up everything for love.
As the gulls creaked a hymn,
He washed his hands of salt and sin,
And prayed for the water to get shallow.
He kept his fingers on his pulse
To keep his mind off all he'd lost.
He chose the rosary;
I chose the gallows.
Because I'd rather be gone than stay here alone
And have the whole wide world
With nowhere to call home.
I'd rather be lost than have nowhere to go.
I tried to understand what he'd done.
I weighed what he'd been given
Against what he'd given up.
I'd give up everything for love.
I'd rip the globe at the seams.
I'd let the whole world fall in the sea
If I thought it'd bring you closer to me.
I would rip the globe.