Moment

Lyrics

The shadow creeps across the limestone sill.
We let the water fill the copper bowl.

I watch the sun drag over the abbey stones,
Waiting for the mark to reach the groove.
You could cross the yard and bring a bucket home,
You could watch a heavy wagon start to move.
A moment isn't something that just flashes and dies,
It's a house with the front door open wide.
You can walk right in and rest your eyes.

When a moment was a heavy length of rope.
When a moment was a breath you didn't rush.
We had the time to hold it in the hand,
To let the iron bell ring out across the brush.
Before they brought the wheels and the tiny brass teeth,
Before they cut the hours out from underneath.
We used to let the water settle in the clay.
When a moment was a place you could stay.

Now they want to measure the blink of a bird,
They want to split the dropping of a pin.
They bring me metal dials with a painted little hand,
And slice the morning dangerously thin.
If you chop a log of pine into 100 wooden chips,
It burns a little faster in the cold.
We are trading all the heavy, quiet silver in the house
For a pocketful of dust we cannot hold.

When a moment was a heavy length of rope.
When a moment was a breath you didn't rush.
We had the time to hold it in the hand,
To let the iron bell ring out across the brush.
Before they brought the wheels and the tiny brass teeth,
Before they cut the hours out from underneath.
We used to let the water settle in the clay.
When a moment was a place you could stay.

The callus on my thumb knows the rhythm of the bronze,
Swinging back to strike the chapel wall.
I don't need a turning gear to tell me when it lands,
My shoulder feels the heavy hammer fall.
We are rushing to the end of a very short wire,
Looking for a spark to start the fire.

Let the shadow cross the floor.
Give me time enough to close the door.
I drop the rope and watch the dust motes play.
A moment.
A moment used to take a little while.
Now it's gone before you even