One day, I said, to the Lord,
A whispered prayer, over my shoulder,
One day I will know.
One day you will show me,
What it is in me,
That resonates so deeply
With the melancholic tone in this song,
To the extent that I told my Sister,
To ensure that amongst all the hymns I'd selected,
She play it at my funeral,
Because this song, I said, is me.
If you could sum up my soul in music,
This would be it.
"With light in my head
And you in my arms"*
And instantly the whisper returned
My ear tingled
The neck hairs bristled
It is longing.
It is yearning.
And in my ignorance, I asked myself,
Like I would know,
If that wasn't contradicting the nature of my rebirth,
This inner being effused with His spirit,
That I should characterise myself solely with this one bittersweet emotion.
I am Longing.
I am yearning.
But my yearning is for home
For that fine and fateful day
And the new birth should not put me off,
For every baby
Is born screaming
For a comfort they can't yet comprehend.
They have needs they have no knowledge of,
And they feel the need still,
The melancholy speaks of hope
Like pain speaks of healing
And what was begun,
Will one day end.
And the crying will fall silent,
And I will suckle at the teat of eternity
"For I Know I will be loosened
From bonds that hold me fast
That the chains all hung around me
Will fall away at last"*
* Fisherman's Blues- The Waterboys
