The Undercover Man

Here at the glass - all the usual problems,

All the habitual farce.

You ask, in uncertain voice, what you should do

As if there were a choice

But to carry on miming the song

And hope that it all works out right.

Tonight it all seems so strange -

My spirit feels rigid,

My body deranged;

Still that's only from one point of view

And we can't have illusion between me and you,

My constant friend, ever close at hand -

You and the undercover man.

I reflect: 'it's very strange to be going

Through this change

With no idea of what it's all been about

Except in the context of time...'

Oh, but i shirk it, i've half a mind

Not to work it all out.

Is this madness just the recurring wave

Of total emotion,

Or a hide for the undercover man,

Or a litany - all the signs are there

Of fervent devotion -

Or the cracking of the dam?

It's cracked; smashed and bursting over you,

There was no reason to expect such disaster.

Now, panicking, you burst for air,

Drowning, you know you care

For nothing and no-one but yourself

And would deny even this hand which stretches out

Towards you to help.

But would i leave you in this moment

Of your trial?

Is it my fault that i'm here to see you crying?

These fantom figures all around

You should have told you,

You should have found out by now,

If you hadn't gone and tried to do it all by yourself.

Even now we are not lost: if you look out

At the night

You'll see the colours and the lights seem to say

People are not far away, at least in distance,

And it's only our own dumb resistance

That's making us stay.

When the madness comes, let it flood on down

And over me sweetly,

Let it drown the parts of me weak and blessed

And damned,

Let it slake my life, let it take my soul

And living completely,

Let it be who i am.

There may not be time for us all to run

In tandem together -

The horizon calls with its parallel lines.

It may not be right for you to have and hold

In one way forever

And yet you still have time,

You still have time