Lay for the Day 19th April

The last day of the Romans’ week-long festival of Cerealia, in honour of Ceres, the corn-goddess. This season of thanksgiving for the plenty that nature yields to human ingenuity also comprehended the feast of Tellus Mater – Mother Earth – on the fifteenth day of April.

Children of the Sun

Children of the sun,
Who might your mother be?
Children on the run,
Come take your strength from me.
My house is hung with green,
Where living waters flow.
O children, where have you been?
I’ve longed to see you so.

Children of the gun,
Who is your family?
Children all undone
Under the poison tree,
My house might ease your pain,
With windows that watch the sea,
Curtains of wind and rain,
Warmth from the heart of me.

Now you’ve left your mark,
My spirit grieves and toils.
Shooting in the dark,
Gambling for the spoils,
O children of the fire,
Who were already rich,
I gave you each desire,
You made me whore and bitch.

I was your paradise,
I was your land of dreams:
Peaks of rock and ice,
Prairies of flowers and streams,
Forest of light and song,
Seas that forever roll.
Be where you still belong,
Be with me heart and soul.

 

Words and music by The Children

The Lay Reader: an archive of the poetic calendar