As Before

How significant was that?
The way you hunkered down and put away your skull cap
It may mean nothing now
But it's an image I choose to extract

You see, I'm older now
And I now prefer not to scrutinize the facts
That despite the fact you hurt me
You always had my back

My conscience just ain't as clear as before
My conscience just ain't as clear as before

It seems improbable
That on the coast of your knowing hand lies a poet's land
Where the crucible is allowed to expand
Sympathy and sin go hand-in-hand

The past retracts, God swings his axe and makes his plaque
And that's how you prefer to keep your Eden intact
But despite the fact, you know that
The devil still attacks

My vision just ain't as clear as before
My apparition just ain't as clear as before

I miss my English rose
She grows somewhere out of reach
She may be feeling low
But I can't find the height from which I may be able to preach

It's something only time can teach
That the weight of days can weigh heavy on your speech
But despite the way I talk now, I have a voice to reach
And I can sing my songs now, if my voice is true to me

The talisman's as mine as it was before
My third eye is as wide as it was before
The fool's disguise don't provide as much as before
The talisman's as mine as it was before