Waiting for the War

These lyrics are based on my experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Yemen- waiting night after night as the first Gulf War in 1990 began to unfold. The waiting is dreadful. At night there were tremendous electrical storms and I could hear the loud speakers from the mosques giving pretty angry sermons rising through the thunder. I was listening to a lot of Bruce Cockburn at the time, and AI has done a pretty good job of capturing his sound. If you enjoyed this song, please like, comment, and share. If you know musicians, it's open for use. Lyrics by me, music by AI, video by Carol. Lyrics: Waiting for the War Cracking with anger Broken voices spill torn words Into the wind of thunder and Rain- fury of a mountain storm. Light trembles from the wet stones of the streets. VOA and BBC are shredded into hiss and crackle Through static spill from radio Shattered frequencies whistle in the dark Names of God rise on the wind. Under the dim light of oil-lamps In the mountain villages This generation, like the last, Is greasing guns. At sea small ships buck the swells That the carriers smash through, Remaining level as they turn into the wind. Rain streaks these scenes Where there is light Makes them flicker like an old print of a film. We’ve all seen these scenes somewhere They are inside us Part of memory or inheritance Working slowly outwards to be seen. What the mind of man does Is constant in its motions Comes into focus only When everything has gone too far, Each escalation and retaliation Ratcheting the tension upwards Until the whole device finally comes un-sprung And then the cold knot coiling in the gut The eye seeing all of a sudden The edges of its world undone As they subduct Into the dark. Waves rise and rattle scree along the shore Dust shimmers on the wind-scoured sands The white moon grins Ground fog rises from the land. The lamps are out, The guns lean oily in the night The minarets catch the staining First red hints of dawn. High where it is already light, The planes, acquiring their marks Lift tips of wings and lunge, are gone Tip the world towards a long Plunge into the waiting dark.