1. Prologue
This is the turning of the year
The final scene before the curtain falls
The squirrel, warm within his bed
of leaves cannot hear the wind
that blows around the chimney pots
For like the pilgrim of the year gone by
He sleeps
Once he was a young man
who laughed in the spring
And lay beneath an upturned sky
on long hot summer days
But with autumn he grows mellow
He looks over his shoulder
Down the long year path of no return
Already he is but a memory
Fading like a shadow on the wall
But time with restless footsteps
hurries by and now beside the road
There stands the pilgrim
of the year to be
2. Winter Song
Falling leaves turn to gold
Silver flowers on my window
Spirit of the fading year
gently slips away
He knows not where
He cannot say, oh no
Naked trees in the sky
Stars are shining clear and cold
The minstrel of the ages
sings of oh so long ago
An age old tune without a name
No one knows
In the white falling snow
The pilgrim travels on
His face towards the sun
Beyond the open road he travels on
Past the lamp shining windows
And faces by the fire
Before the midnight hour
For Christmas time
has come around again
Go to sleep, little child
You shouldn't be awake
Go to sleep little child
Time to let the night go by
Waiting for the sound of a magic sleigh
The chimneys not too tall they say
Or the roof too high for a reindeer to fly
No not too high for a reindeer to fly
The clock strikes twelve
on a street below
They hurry to a church to pray
"Forgive our sins and negligence
Accept our humble penitence
It's been a year ago today
Since we were here"
Choir gently sings an anthem
Not too loud or out of key
Congregation turn eye corners
When the plate goes round to see
Who gives the most on Christmas day
The most on Christmas day
Twilight days are slipping far away
Just sand into an hour glass
For winter time is slowly passed
And cannot last forever
North wind turn your back
upon the doors that you have blown
West wind melt the organ pipes of ice
That glitter on the eaves
of the houses in the town
And the sun wakes up the flowers
That slumber through the winter
And warms the sleepy faces
Waiting for the spring
3. Spring Poem
The skies of steel
and fields white with frost
are memories of yesterday
And while scarecrow children
search the hedgerows and splash
through muddy pools for secrets
The spirit of the spring
with the sunbeams on her hair
shakes the sleeping earth
And with the pilgrim by her side
She murmurs in the trees
And in the ears of all who listen
"Now time to wake for winter has gone"
4. Spring Song
Green April comes
With flowers in her hair
She smiles again and like a child
cares nothing for tomorrow
She spreads her wings
Catch her if you see her
in your mind's eye
For she smiles in a Mona Lisa way
Sun is rising
from a cloud above your head
When you instead are sleeping
All is knowing, all is growing
And no one knows
which way their mind is blowing
Green April comes
And now she finds
her work is almost done
And like a child
cares nothing for tomorrow
And like a child
cares nothing for tomorrow
And like a child thinks only for today
5. Summer Poem
The pilgrim wanders with the spirit
of the spring, enchanted
As if tomorrow will never come
But time is running out
And as she bids him farewell
Only the echo of her voice remains
For now she flies
On the bare back of the south wind
Across the naked mountains
Above the winding rivers
Breathing gently on the meadows
Scattering her flowers
into the grass and the hedgerows
A vision slowly fading, fading
Fading through the back door
into summer
6. Summer Song
Long summer day
Golden fingers pointing at my doorway
Meadow sleeping
Watching for the sky to turn you on
The air filled with heytime
Dandelion clock time
Blowing past a flower-print lady
On a seat in the park
Wears a paper on her head
She never read at all
She's just keeping her mind in the dark
Keeping her mind in the dark
You know she's cool
She's just like an ice-cream man
And don't you see what I mean
She's doing the best that she can
Doing the best that she can
Hey Mr. Sunshine
Like a Harlequin you're dancing
on my picture book today
Ooh It's a good time
I'm a paper kite
And I'm floating far away
Drifting alone
Chew on a candy-floss
in the pouring rain
Kids are crying again
Kids are crying again
Holiday time
Down on a beach with the crowd
Trying to look for the sun
Taking whatever you can
And your deckchair is an island
In a kaleidoscope world
Jamming cars, crowded bars
Standing trains or smell the drains
The quiver in the heat of the city street
God, I must get away
Hey Mr. Sunshine
I'm a paper kite
And I'm floating far away
7. Autumn Song
Down the wide open road
The pilgrim travels on
His face towards the sun
Beyond the open road he travels on
And the waves steal the footprints
Of the summer from the sand
Beneath the silver moon
The North wind blows
the fading leaves again
8. Epilogue
Around and around
All has nearly turned full circle
The warm lazy days of sunshine
And brown rivers
winding through the meadows
are a tale of yesterday
The pilgrim sighs
And draws his mantle close
about him in the smoky evening
He watches the leaves wither and fall
Frost has rimmed the pools with ice
And hung diamonds
in the spider's web
For this is the turning of the year
The final scene before the curtain falls
And now beside the road there stands
the pilgrim of the year to be
9. Winter Song (Reprise)
Falling leaves turn to gold
Silver flowers on my window
Spirit of the fading year
gently slips away
He knows not where
He cannot say