Morning / Possession - Echoes of Thoreau I

[VERSE 1] Morning was an hour no one had claimed yet Most men had already cut it into clocks tied it to alarms rented it to meetings But here beside the lake the day was still free A thin mist moved over the horizon line The water softly laid aside the thoughts it carried through the night As if the lake, like man, had made some shadows larger in the dark and now with light was learning how to make them small [VERSE 2] The trees stood still but did not seem to wait There was no stiffness in them only calm Birds were speaking but persuading no one Not proving themselves not trying to prevail They sang from the joy of being Nature begins each morning with a confidence unknown to man Though yesterday was lost today is not ashamed [VERSE 3] I stood before my cabin door and asked myself Why does a man become servant to the things he built? How do houses made by our own hands climb upon our shoulders like a load? A roof is made to keep off rain why does it make us forget the sky? A table should not weigh more than the bread laid upon it Yet I have seen many homes heavier than the souls inside As objects filled the rooms the spirit narrowed As the rooms grew larger life grew small [CHORUS] Some men gather more and lose their sight Some men let go and grow light Take one chair away make room for thought Take one noise away hear what time is not A man may rise by taking less The clearest wealth is emptiness [VERSE 4] Faces going down to town were full of haste Each one searching most not knowing what Lists in their hands shortages in their minds What we truly need comes quickly A bowl of water a slice of bread a little warmth the voice of a friend But useless things can claim a lifetime A hungry body soon is filled A hungry desire walks market after market shop after shop It returns with full hands and an empty heart [VERSE 5] Some buy a newer chair but have no hour to sit Some widen every window but forget to look outside Some purchase softer beds yet carry restless sleep within Man often seeks what is missing in the wrong place Trying to feed the hunger of the soul with furniture [VERSE 6] Here beside the lake I grew lighter More by what I did not own than by what I had Less furniture less noise less explaining Sometimes a man grows larger not by adding but by removing Take one chair from the room make space for thought Take one ornament from the wall clear the crowded eye Take vanity from the table and appetite returns Take hurry from the day and time appears [CHORUS] Some men gather more and lose their sight Some men let go and grow light Take one chair away make room for thought Take one noise away hear what time is not A man may rise by taking less The clearest wealth is emptiness [VERSE 7] Time does not run here as it runs in town Hours do not push each other in a frightened line A morning can grow long A noon can deepen An evening can move inside a man In the city men kill minutes Here minutes raise the dead [VERSE 8] I left my cabin door open and looked within There was little there yet nothing asked too much of me That was a greater comfort than many wealthy homes For in some houses a man does not merely live He pays protects cleans carries worries What he calls possession becomes a long night watch [VERSE 9] But here beside the water a cup a table a few books and silence were enough And silence was not empty It was full of thought Many fear silence for there they meet themselves Noise is often only a curtain hung to escape one’s own face [BRIDGE] As morning climbed the mist withdrew The lake grew clear Its surface owning nothing reflected everything Then I knew Wealth is less in gathering than in becoming clear The more a man clings the less he sees [VERSE 10] A bird rose suddenly The sound of its wings was brief the mark it left was long Some truths are like that They come they touch they go And leave a man no longer who he was If one day you ask why your burdens have grown heavy Look not first to what is on your shoulders Look to what is in your heart For sometimes it is not the boxes we carry But the things we cannot release [FINAL VERSE] Morning now belonged to everyone Doors were opening in town wheels were turning bargains beginning But here the day was still calm And I thought Much of the world’s noise is born not of need But habit I looked once more upon the lake It was full while asking nothing Perhaps a man is most complete when he desires less [OUTRO] Morning was an hour no one had claimed yet Here beside the lake it still is