The Dirge Songtext
von Chris Riley

I am from the undulous land
Where Romans reined their horses alongside those
who′d settled here before along the burn
Where the river ran its source of life along the vale
Now sequestered under concrete and the clogged arteries
of their consumptive combustion engines


I am from the yearning of the Sunday afternoon hogweed
Who stretches toward the Sun beneath the scything motorway
Where Apollo was once placated
by those whose empire was built in blood

I am from the sanctuary of saints
seeking refuge from the plunderers of the foreboding sea
Resting inland
Counting out the centuries in ermine
On rosaries of Grace until the hunger of conquerors
bade them move once more


I am from a stinky half-on of a town
Stubbed out by the vagaries of a capital
that drains its provinces like a stabbed sack of wine
As they catch the flowing crimson with their gaping maws