Cecilia And The Saints

7. Cecilia and the Saints

I walked 20 miles in bare feet as a child to see your face

Dragging hope and fear and loneliness across the Spanish plain

My arms and chest were leather brown, my mouth was desert dry

But my thirst evaporated in the shadow of your eyes

Now I walk into this holy house, a pilgrim bowed and bent

Seeking gossamer connection, ever throwing filament

I kneel and light the candle, say a prayer and genuflect

But only gazing on your golden lips can make me feel correct

It's a parable of gratitude and cavernous, cruel faith

In the strange misshapen beauty of Cecilia and the saints

I have watched you as you flickered, I have watched you dull and fade

As the glowing, tireless growl of time coerced you to decay

And oh Santa Maria, for this man that I behold

Send strength coursing through this body, emanating from my soul

Please bless these trembling fingers, bless the shiver in my hand

Bless the naked blazing empty space in every mortal man

Bless the pigments and the brushes, bless the deep burnt browns and reds

Bless these pious pure intentions, bless what commenced instead

It's a parable of gratitude and cavernous, cruel faith

In the strange misshapen beauty of Cecilia and the saints

In this stucco sanctuary, fiery frescoes beaming down

Watching wretched resurrection hang upon your thorny crown

I lean into the withered comfort of your flowing robes

For at last we are together, at last we are alone

And when I finally touch your hair it's like a floating fever dream

Can you feel me, are you reaching the sublime or the obscene

Please accept my true apologies, my passion and my ache

And this graceless, sacred offering left tumbling from your gates

It's a parable of gratitude and cavernous, cruel faith

In this strange misshapen beauty of Cecilia and the saints

It's a parable of gratitude and cavernous, cruel faith

In this strange misshapen beauty of Cecilia and the saints