Stripes Of My Soul

There are Tigers in my dreams
stripes of orange and black
I sit upon a hill underneath
a willow tree
and the Tigers sit in the branches
silently loving me

I can see old men walking
on the road
down below
going to Heaven or Hell
and in their carts
are little children crying for
their mothers

(I will not turn)

And the Tigers talk to me
(or at least I understand their growls)
they tell me of places I should go
people I should know
The sky is so blue above ,y willow tree
not a cloud in the sky
and the time it rains
is when the Tigers cry

There is a little path leading up
to the boughs of my tree
and once in a while
a lady of inexhaustible beauty
visits me
She talks with me
about the Tigers
but always leaves with a kiss and a sigh

The Tigers tell me she doesn't love me
but I sometimes think the
Tigers lie

When night falls upon my hill
the Tigers come down from their tree
and comfort me , preen me, clean me
and cleanse my dirtied soul

(I know that in the end they will kill me)

But they leave at the moons peak
and prey on the old men
and their carts of children

Yet when I awake they are there
in their perches in the tree

Sometimes in the field beyond
the road
A circus will be in town
I can see from my spot
the tents and clowns
but no matter how much I beg
the Tigers won't let me go
I am theirs
I watch the little children
preying on the vendors
and ravaging the tents
I can see the freaks after dark
eating the little children
eating the future
And the old men still travel on
going to Heaven or Hell

The Tigers tell me about Satan
about Christ on crutches
The Tigers think they have me in their clutches
They fill my head with their hot breath

(I don't know who I am)

The birds fly so so far overhead
So far away
And when I tell the Tigers I want to fly
they only laugh and say someday

Upon my spot on the hill
I can see a little town
forever burning, forever on fire
nothing quenches the raging pyre
Underneath I feel the ground move
I feel the Earth move

(I will not turn around)

Sometimes in the sky I see
burning lights of red and green
but the Tigers won't tell me what
it all means

There are Tigers in my dreams
stripes of orange and black
do any of you know what that means?
do any of you know the Tigers in my dreams?

(I know that in the end they will kill me)

They sit up in the willow tree
silently judging me

(I will not turn...)