The Years Lyrics

have you seen her straight from the water?
hair falling in ropes?
an image that flickers and falters
as the static
covers with snow

lo, how the years do pass
have you seen them, watching the sand in the glass?
i've seen the line of the sun on the street
and the arc that it charts in the path of a wheel
upon that wheel I have ridden by
groups of people who once were mine
and now i think i know what it is
to first feel this:

the passage of time
of life gone by
locked in a line
that we all must climb

when i'm straight from the water
as five hundred times or more
what will the scene, and who will the cast be
when my foot hits the shore?
when i'm straight from the ocean
as any one of these times
it almost feels like i can choose
just whence to re-enter the line

lo, how the years do rush
as the rain overflows endlessly from my cup
i've seen the moment that hangs on the air
staggers into segments, descends the stair
i've returned a gaze, again and again
haunting a house i never lived in
i've returned a gaze again until
i finally first feel

the passage of time
of life gone by
locked in a line
that we all must find

come with me now
to the edge of the sand
you and i
can decide where to stand
you and i
can find our new land
you and i
can finally begin