They came in countless numbers
|
Without hope, without hopelessness
|
On jelly limbs
|
Faceless
|
Crawling out of the living sea.
|
The green world welcomed them
|
It sweetened the air for them
|
And above all, the sun warmed them
|
And dried them
|
By night, in dreamless sleep
|
The new life filled them
|
Piping strange harmonies in the blood
|
Fusing the beginnings of bones
|
Then hunger awoke them
|
And sleepy with a sense of being
|
They arose and moved inland
|
Fulfilling their new-found needs
|
They called out to one another
|
The winds carried their cries
|
Over mountains, through forests,
|
Across deserts and oceans
|
Great distances were traveled
|
The strong devoured the weak
|
The quick devoured the slow
|
The cunning devoured the foolish
|
They fed on each other without malice
|
Or remorse
|
Their purpose was survival
|
Life was their achievement
|
They formed into groups
|
Some took to the air
|
Some burrowed underground
|
And some returned to the water
|
From icecap to icecap
|
The globe rang with their cleverness
|
And with each turn
|
Gave them meaning
|
|
-----------------
|
Them
|
Neil Innes |