To Blossom In The Shadow

Old friends with new faces - time don't heal, time softens;

Time just blocks out the problems

So why bother waiting when the drink does the same much quicker?

In the absence of a mic, I'll clutch liquor;

And raise a salute to the three who gave me the strength to be Katie.

Things change, yes, people make gravely damaging decisions that lead to mistakes,

And now I'm sitting here thinking that it must have been a piss take

A big old hoax, the elements cracking jokes watching us tie ourselves into knots like our ropes were enchanted. Last night I awoke in the darkness of predawn and watched as the sky gave way to the day:

The moon sat peaceful in the West. The sun sent emissaries to herald its approach,

And gradually he rose, to beam across the sky at his sister. Sent his colors out to whisper that he'd missed her.

And for a short while the two shared the same sky - both of them glorious, both of them perfect.

I couldn't help but think of us lot in the days gone by -

We didn't want to fit the Earth, and so we made the Earth fit us.

Big souls in a small dimension. Our wits told us to walk, direction unimportant, we thought we'd be safe, we performed with an awkward grace, we were sure there was more to this place.

If only we'd known (ah but the journey is paramount), that behind our backs, many hands had their daggers out.

Still - days passed, we laughed, we made beats and drank dragon stout,

And every time we had our doubts - we made sure we had 'em out

We played a few shows, it weren't nothing much to brag about,

But in within the grouping there was some kind of solution that made us all sure we were moving through confusion to lucidity - made bigger by each other's abilities.

Those days are the blood in my lyrical capillaries.

You lot are the blood in my lyrical capillaries.

Well - 'what happens in love occurs beyond good and evil'.

We did what we did, we were people, truly.

And as I keep progressing on my path I often think of them: friends, that gave my own style to me.

So I move through life, every tiny little moment, building on the others, contributing to the now,

And I get it: if we'd have stayed allies, never shifted to opponents, we wouldn't be the people that we are, anyhow, what I'm saying is - watching the sky this morning, I saw perfect harmony, and it was so beautiful,

And I thought about us, and the nature of companions, and that day when we all piled into the mic booth for that chorus on that old track in that studio -

No egos, just childish enjoyment imagining itself as maturity.

This morning it dawned on me that I still feel the foundations that we built then supporting me,

And I still hear the words of our young raps calling me,

As I struggle on to be what I was born to be - better.

So when you rise, I'll smile. I'll greet you broadly, and for a little while, I will shine out,

But shortly I'll start to sink slowly and happily away -

Coz every good Moon makes room for her Day

Every good Moon makes room for her Day

So yes, you do your thing, and I'll do mine.

It's important we give each other space to shine,

Coz when morning arrives, there'll be a space in time,

When we can shine out together, and glory in each other's glow

"How the human spirit seems to blossom in the shadow of the abattoir"

Malcolm Lowry