Bells of Time

There are no saints or teachers
no reason here nor rhyme
just the black robed missionaries of death
to toll
the bells of time

down along the border
upon a lonely road
I saw a man in flowing robes
his hair was snowy white
he said he was five hundred years
and his hands were cold as ice
from touching all the dead men
who'd played the highest price
for living on his mountains
and running in his grass
he said he'd come to take his payment
before the hour was passed

he was tired of seeing thieves upon
what once was his alone
and ashes in his valleys
where once the flowers had grown
he said he'd seen the foreign kings
come marching through the mud
to carve their image on the land
and write their names in blood
and leave a legacy of hate
upon this sleeping land
that she might never rise again
to bide the feeding hand

he'd seen the halo'd churches rise
he'd watched the heroes fall
to lie beneath their banners
while Judas stands so tall
where behind Caesar's scarlet sword
a smiling Jesus stands
no thorns upon his hooded brow
no holes into his shoulder
there's no mark of shame
upon the sellers of the truth
so none may know their name