The Turning Page

In a Manhattan courthouse, the air was tight A former king beneath the jury's light They read the counts, all thirty-four in line A chapter closed on a tangled design Hush money paid in a long-ago year The verdict's in, for all the world to hear A felony stain, a historical first A bubble of power and privilege burst. The headlines shout in black and blue and red But it's the same old story from a dusty bed Of pride and falls and reaching for the sun A new day's tale has only just begun

And the ink ain't dry on the turning page Just another actor on a well-worn stage. Then down in Florida, by the salt-sea spray Two astronauts were set to fly away On a ship called Starliner, aimed at the stars To leave behind our little earthly bars Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, strapped in tight Awaiting fire in the morning light But a ground-hold call from a tired machine Scrubbed the whole mission, shattered the whole scene. The headlines shout in black and blue and red But it's the same old story from a dusty bed

Of pride and falls and reaching for the sun A new day's tale has only just begun And the ink ain't dry on the turning page Just another actor on a well-worn stage. From the crowded courtroom to the launchpad's gleam Runs the same old, stubborn, human dream To conquer worlds or just to win the fight To hold the darkness or to find the light And down in Texas, the relentless sun Beats on the grid 'til the day is done Another battle, ancient and so real Beneath a sky of burning, baking steel.

The headlines shout in black and blue and red But it's the same old story from a dusty bed Of pride and falls and reaching for the sun A new day's tale has only just begun And the ink ain't dry on the turning page Just another actor on a well-worn stage.