Long dusty road
Sand blowing turning
Rain rust red
Walking towards the empty horizon …

No familiar broken telegraph posts
No roving tumbleweed
… Just my eyes
Then suddenly …
Round the corner …
Army of skeletal faces,
Looking to the sky …

THE MOTHER SHIP!
Their deliverance!
… Sitting here on my cloud, thinking;
COTTON WOOL DON'T FLOAT!

Army marches
Hands upraised
SkyMan returns
From the sun king's palace

Look up brethren!
Our salvation!

HOSANNA
(cracked sky)

HOSANNA
(rusting sky)

HOSANNA
(certainly no palm leaves!)

It rains …
Army of faces becomes Army of umbrellas
Welcome to the human zoo folks
God, it's boring …
Where's the wind?

(Question …
IS A CLOUD BETTER THAN A BROOMSTICK?)

Oh, here's the first flutter …
OFF WE GO! …

Army of facesbecomesArmyofumbrellasbecomesArmyoftears …

YOU FLYING JUDAS!…

But another cloud appears …

God, I'm sick of the sky …

Stepping off my cloud
I step on the beach
feel the harsh black basalt
Pebbles bite …

See the island …
And the hill

I wonder, can I walk on the water
with holes in my feet?

First step
… Water pours through holes
sea
scape
erupts
in
my
head!

Expecting to sink,
Can you imagine my surprise

It's rather like walking
In a muddy field
… except for the water

The island changes during my journey
becomes the same old cloud
the same old rat race

Back to cloud nine
… but this time I might rain

Over the hill you can see me
Oh, I see you've caught your own cloud
Every body's
on their
cloud …
The army of faces is on its cloud
AND THEY'RE LOOKING AT THE GROUND …

Steve Pearce