I woke up with feathers, I woke up with wings High above the world of mortal things An owl in the silent, silver night Floating on a current of pale moonlight Beneath me, a valley of stone and clay Where the rock people started another day Bound to a burden, bound to a hill With a giant boulder and a stubborn will They pushed it together, they pushed it alone Hand against gravel, bone against stone Fathers and daughters, lovers and friends Straining for a peak where the highway ends I hovered above them and watched them below Some wept in the shadows, some laughed in the glow Some found a comfort, a rhythm, a grace In the heavy routine of that unforgiving place And the seasons turn, and the winters bite But the boulder rolls in the fading light Through the sweat and the tears and the changing sky I watched them live, I watched them die Pushing onward, pushing high The years bled to decades, the centuries rolled And the rock people changed as the mountain grew old Not like a human, not like a beast But cracking and weathering, west to the east Pieces of shoulder would fall to the clay Slowly eroding, just chipping away Some didn't make it, they crumbled to dust Leaving their burden to those they could trust The line grew so thin as the summit drew near Just a brave, broken few left to conquer the fear Exhausted and breathless, they’d rest for a day Then lean back into the wind and the gray I sat in the branches, I screamed to the air Cheering them on through their quiet despair Fascinated by the spirit they held in their chest For the fallen they loved, they refused to take rest And the seasons turn, and the winters bite But the boulder rolls in the fading light Through the sweat and the tears and the changing sky I watched them live, I watched them die Pushing onward, pushing high Then came the morning the horizon turned gold The highest plateau that the world could behold With one final heave of a fractured design They pushed that great boulder right over the line It crashed down the far side, away in the dark And the sun hit their faces, a glorious spark They stood at the summit, fulfilled and at peace The struggle was over, the final release Some of them smiled, some started to weep For the family they lost on the slope of the steep Then slowly, so gently, they started to break No longer bound by the choices they make They crumbled to rubble, they melted to stone Becoming the mountain they conquered alone And I spread my wings in the quiet air Feeling the weight of the love that was there Sadness and triumph, a beautiful peace Watching the souls of the mountain release Then my eyes opened wide to a bedroom so still But my heart is still flying high over that hill Changed by a dream that I’ll keep till I die Of the rock and the boulder, the mountain and I…
