The Sower's Song

In a tower of glass on a Manhattan isle A former king faced down a courtroom trial Thirty-four counts, the jury's decree A felony shadow for the world to see The papers they holler, the battle lines drawn Just another chapter in a bitter old dawn One side is cheering, the other cries foul And the eagle circles with a worried old scowl Oh, the wind tells the story, the river sings the rhyme Of power and people, running out of time I've seen this tale written in parchment and stone

You reap what you're planting, you reap what you've sown Down in the desert, the sun beats a drum The mercury's climbing, the cicadas are numb From Texas to Phoenix, the asphalt does weep While the air conditioners a promise can't keep They talk of a heat dome, a climate gone wrong But it's just the same story, a punishing song Of folks seeking shelter, a cool sip of grace In a sun-blasted, hard-scrabble, tired old place Oh, the wind tells the story, the river sings the rhyme Of power and people, running out of time

I've seen this tale written in parchment and stone You reap what you're planting, you reap what you've sown Down at the border, a new order's read A line in the dust for the tired and dread The gates will be closed now, the President said Too many are coming, with dreams in their head A number is chosen, a limit is set A political gamble, a desperate bet But a hope is a river that can't be contained And a heart will keep beating, however much pained And all the while, the wires they hum

With ghosts in the machine, a new age to come They'll write you a story, they'll paint you a sky And never once have to look you in the eye Is it different this time? Is the story all new? Or the same human failing, just seen from a different view? Oh, the wind tells the story, the river sings the rhyme Of power and people, running out of time I've seen this tale written in parchment and stone You reap what you're planting, you reap what you've sown