[Instrumental]
LOOKING AT HIS SON ACROSS THE ROOM
HE FEARED TO CROSS THAT DIVIDE
BUT HOW LONG COULD HE STAY IN THIS DARK
THAT ALLOWS US ALL TO HIDE
IS THERE A WRONG SO GREAT IN LIFE
THAT IT UNDOES EVERY GOOD WE’VE EVER DONE
IS THERE AN ACT SO GOOD IT WOULD UNDO ALL OUR WRONGS
EVERY SINGLE ONE?
AND IN PUTTING HIS WHOLE
LIFE INTO THIS GESTURE
WOULD FAILING MAKE IT
ANY LESSER?
THEN THROUGH THE WINDOW HE THOUGHT HE SAW
IN THE FALLING SNOW SO NEAR
THE OUTLINE OF HIS SON’S MOTHER’S FACE
BUT THEN IT DISAPPEARED
IT WAS ONLY THERE FOR A SECOND
AND A SECOND’S NOT LONG, BUT YET
IT WAS ENOUGH TO CAUSE THAT MAN
TO TAKE THAT VERY FIRST STEP
AND THAT STEP WAS FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER
IN THAT ROOM STILL LIT SO DIM
AND BEFORE HE REALIZED HOW FAR HE HAD GONE
HIS SON WAS DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF HIM
THEN THE FATHER NOTICED ON THE WINDOWSILL
AN OLD PHOTO THAT HE LONG AGO HAD SEEN
IT WAS A PICTURE OF HIM AND HIS WIFE
WHEN THEY WERE BOTH ABOUT NINETEEN
IT WAS LEANING AGAINST A FOLDER
THAT SAID “PROPERTY OF THE DECEASED”
AND UNDERNEATH WAS HIS WIFE’S NAME
AND THE DATE IT HAD BEEN RELEASED
IT WAS OBVIOUSLY HER PERSONAL POSSESSIONS
THAT HAD BEEN GIVEN TO HIS SON
BECAUSE SINCE HE HAD LEFT THEM ALL BEHIND
THE CHILD WAS THE ONLY ONE
HIS SON MUST HAVE ALWAYS KEPT IT WITH HIM
FOR THE FOLDER WAS WEATHERED AND TORN
AND HE MUST HAVE GAZED AT THAT PICTURE COUNTLESS TIMES
FOR IT WAS ALSO ALL TATTERED AND WORN
THEN HIS SON NOTICED HIM STANDING THERE
AND FROM HIS TASK LOOKED UP
AND THEN LOOKED AT THE PICTURE BESIDE HIM
AND THAT ONE LOOK, WAS ENOUGH
HE RECOGNIZED IT WAS HIS FATHER
THAT WAS NOW STANDING THERE
AND GAVE HIM A SMILE OF PURE LOVE AND FORGIVENESS
AND OF THE PAST, HE DID NOT CARE
HE DID NOT CARE WHERE HE HAD BEEN
THE WHYS, THE WHERES, THE HOWS
HE ONLY CARED THAT HIS FATHER WAS THERE
STANDING BY HIM NOW
THEN THE FATHER TURNED AND WALKED ACROSS THE ROOM
WHICH BY NOW HAD LOST ITS DISTANCE
AND WENT TO THE NEAREST INCUBATOR
AND PICKED UP A TREMBLING INFANT
AND WITH THE CHILD WITHIN HIS ARMS
HE RETURNED TO HIS SON
AND ALL THE PAIN WITHIN HIS SOUL
AT THAT MOMENT WAS UNDONE
AND HE SAT IN THE ROCKING CHAIR BESIDE HIM
WITH THE LIFE HE HAD RETRIEVED
AND SIDE-BY-SIDE TOGETHER
THEY ROCKED ALL THROUGH THAT CHRISTMAS EVE
NOW ALL THAT HAD OCCURRED HERE THIS NIGHT
THE ANGEL HAD CLEARLY SEEN
NOT UNLIKE AN OLD FASHIONED MOVIE
UPON A SILVERED SCREEN
THAT BORDERS ON THE EDGE OF A
FORGOTTEN CHILDHOOD DREAM
AND FROM ALL THAT HE HAD WITNESSED
HE THOUGHT HIS ANSWER HE HAD FOUND
AND ONCE MORE UNFOLDED HIS WINGS
AND LEFT EARTH’S SOLID GROUND
WITH EVERY SWEEP OF THOSE WINGS
ACROSS TIME AND SPACE HE SOARED
UNTIL HE FOUND HIMSELF STANDING
BACK IN HEAVEN, BEFORE HIS LORD
AND HE TOLD HIS LORD THE NAME OF THE FATHER’S SON
BUT THEN HE HESITATED
LIKE A CHILD IN SCHOOL UNSURE OF HIS ANSWER
BUT THE LORD, HE PATIENTLY WAITED
THEN THE ANGEL ADDED THE NAMES
OF THE PARISHIONERS AT THE CHURCH
THE MUSICIANS, THE STORYTELLER
THE OPERATOR AND THE HOSPITAL NURSE
EVENTUALLY THERE WAS HARDLY A PERSON
THAT THE ANGEL HAD MISSED
AND THEN AT THE VERY END HE PLACED
THE FATHER’S NAME, ALSO ON THAT LIST
THAT ANYONE COULD REFLECT HIS LORD’S SON
WAS NOW THE ANGEL’S VIEW
ALL IT TOOK WAS TO FOLLOW THE SIMPLE WORD’S OF HIS SON
“TO DO UNTO OTHERS, AS YOU WOULD HAVE OTHERS DO UNTO YOU”
THEN THE LORD SMILED AT HIS ANGEL
AND SAID, “YOU HAVE DONE MORE THAN YOUR TASK
IT’S A GIFT THAT EYES RARELY HAVE
THAT CAN SEE FURTHER THAN THEY ARE ASKED.”
AND SO THIS NIGHT IS ENDING
SO CLOSE TO WHERE IT DID START
AS THE ANGEL SLEPT DEEP THAT NIGHT
WITHIN HIS LORD’S OWN HEART
FOR HOPE NEVER DIES
AT WORST IT ONLY SLEEPS
AND ALL WE SURRENDER
CHRISTMAS SAFELY KEEPS
THROUGH THE COLD WINTER NIGHTS
OF THE LONGEST DECEMBERS
TILL HERE BY STARLIGHT
WE BEGIN TO REMEMBER
THAT IN THE VERY END
THE MESSAGE CHRISTMAS IS SENDING
IS THAT IT IS NEVER TOO LATE
TO CHANGE ANY LIFE’S ENDING
THE END
AFTER THE END or (THE NEXT DAY)
SO CHRISTMAS EVE HAD COME AND PAST
BUT NOT SO CHRISTMAS DAY
AND THUS IT IS, WE ADD A FINAL ACT
ONTO OUR YEARLY PLAY
A TAXICAB PULLED UP TO THE GRAND HOTEL,
THAT MORNING SOMEWHERE AROUND EIGHT
AND THE FATHER WITH HIS SON GOT OUT
AND ASKED THE DRIVER, TO PLEASE WAIT
THEN THE FATHER ASKED THE CLERK IF HE COULD SPEAK
TO THE COUPLE IN ROOM TWELVE TWENTY-FOUR
ADDING HE DID NOT KNOW THE COUPLE’S NAME
BUT HAD MET THEIR CHILD THE NIGHT BEFORE
THE CLERK ANSWERED MOST POLITELY
THAT HE WOULD LIKE TO FULFILL HIS WISH
BUT THE ROOM NUMBER TWELVE TWENTY-FOUR
IN THIS HOTEL, DID NOT EXIST
THE FATHER THEN DESCRIBED THE LITTLE GIRL
HER AGE AND DRESS AS WELL
BUT THE CLERK SAID THERE HAD BEEN NO CHILDREN THERE AT ALL THAT WEEK
WAS HE SURE HE HAD THE RIGHT HOTEL?
SO THE FATHER STARTED WONDERING
IF IN THE COLD WINTER’S AIR
HE HAD SOMEHOW IMAGINED THE ENTIRE EVENT
BUT THEN HE REALIZED, HE DIDN’T CARE
THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERED
WHEN ALL WAS SAID AND DONE
WAS THAT HE WAS REUNITED
WITH HIS ONE AND ONLY SON
AND WHEN THEY GOT BACK INTO THEIR CAB
HE HEARD A RIPPING SOUND
AS THE CONTENTS OF HIS WIFE’S FOLDER
SPILLED OUT ONTO THE GROUND
AS HE RUSHED TO PICK IT ALL UP
HE GRABBED THE PICTURE FIRST
OF HIM AND HIS WIFE AT THE AGE NINETEEN
LONG BEFORE SHE HAD GIVEN BIRTH
AND ON THE BACK HE SAW A POEM HE HAD WRITTEN TO HER
YEARS BEFORE THEY HAD WED
WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG, THEIR LIVES JUST BEGUN
AND HERE IS WHAT IT SAID,
“IF A SINGLE TEAR FELL FROM YOUR EYES INTO THE OCEAN
AND THEN WASHED UP ON SOME FAR AND DISTANT SHORE
I WOULD STILL RECOGNIZE THAT TEARDROP
FOR IN THE END THAT TEAR WOULD STILL BE YOURS”
AND THEN HE SAW ANOTHER PICTURE
THAT HE HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE
OF A LITTLE GIRL IN A RUSSIAN STYLED COAT
STANDING WITH HER PARENTS, IN FRONT OF THEIR STORE
THE LITTLE GIRL HE SAW THERE
HE NOW KNEW WAS A CHILDHOOD PICTURE OF HIS WIFE
BUT IT WAS ALSO A PICTURE OF THE LITTLE GIRL
HE HAD JUST MET ON THE PREVIOUS NIGHT
AND HE REALIZED THAT THOSE WHO LOVE
DEATH CANNOT DIVIDE
IT ONLY PROVIDES AN EXTRA SOUL
TO WATCH OVER US FROM THE OTHER SIDE
AND TOGETHER THEY RETURNED
BACK TO THE FATHER’S HOME
AND SHARED THE BEST CHRISTMAS
THAT EITHER OF THEM HAD EVER KNOWN
AND SOMEWHERE ACROSS ETERNITY
WHICH IN DISTANCE CANNOT BE MEASURED
THE MOTHER LOOKED DOWN UPON THEM BOTH
AND THEIR HAPPINESS SHE TREASURED
AND LATER ON LATE THAT NIGHT
WHEN HER SON WAS DRIFTING OFF TO SLEEP
A TEAR ONCE MORE ROLLED FROM HER EYES
AND TRAILED ACROSS HER CHEEK
BUT THIS ONE WAS A TEAR OF JOY
THAT SHE COULD NOT KEEP INSIDE
AND THIS TIME SHE FOLLOWED IT THROUGH ETERNITY
ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE
TILL IT LANDED BY ANOTHER JOYFUL TEAR
THAT HER HUSBAND HAD JUST WEPT
AND THERE UNSEEN SHE JOINED HIM
IN THE SILENT VIGIL THAT HE KEPT
FOR WE ARE ALL BORN MORTAL
LIKE STARS AND CANDLELIGHT
AND ALL THAT REALLY MATTERS
IS WHAT WE DO BEFORE WE FALL ASLEEP EACH NIGHT