The Bells of Bartella

I heard hope today,
Returning to the land,
The hope thrown to the wind,
And scattered in the sand,

The blood that drained,
And soaked away there,
That bought with it death,
And the silence of despair,

And the silence of the voices,
Of those who lived in fear,
The silence of the western world,
Where no one wants to hear,

The justice that was silenced,
By the bark of Kalashnikov
And the silence of the voices,
Calling off the dogs,

The cries for help that never came,
Smothered by the bombs,
Mothers cries for Children,
Children's cries for Mums,

The silence of indifference,
Where was God, where was his love?
And where was the sound of hope,
Calling from above,

The desert now was waiting,
Ravaged by the winds of war,
And howling shrills of violence,
For the sounds from long before,

For the sound from all creation,
Calling all things well,
Calling out new life,
The peal of the bell,

Clear, and strong, and defiant,
The bell calls into the wind,
And the wilderness is surrendering,
It's children up again,

I heard the sound of hope today,
Ringing as a bell,
Summoning hope from death,
And calling us back from hell,

Like the silence never really came,
For the hope never died, nor lost it's smile,
Only the gaps between the claps,
Got longer for a while.


I heard hope today,
Returning to the land,
Hope that had been thrown to the wind,
And scattered in the sand,
Now returning to the hand.