this is a dry and stony quarter-acre
too hard to till and far too small to build
upon by us the poor and the unskilled
here in the realm of liar and of faker
where the last honest impulse has been stilled
this is a dry and stony quarter-acre
left over at creation by the maker
so there is nothing that we have to gild
no dark condition we've left unfulfilled
this is a dry and stony quarter-acre
this is a dry and stony quarter-acre
too hard to till and far too small to build
upon by us the poor and the unskilled
here in the realm of liar and of faker
where the last honest impulse has been stilled
this is a dry and stony quarter-acre
left over at creation by the maker
so there is nothing that we have to gild
no dark condition we've left unfulfilled
this is a dry and stony quarter-acre
this is the verb that we declare must stand
for place and season taken out of time
by our decision rendered full sublime
by simplest action of creative hand
uttered each morning by serene command
the sound itself is richer than each chime
of golden bells tuned to a perfect prime
while the symbolic meaning is so grand
all that we say can be reduced to this
concision of significance and sound
where every symbol strains into the light
yet not a thing is here that we could miss
even if we retreat to harder ground
since we have turned our backs upon the night
this is the verb that we declare must stand
for place and season taken out of time
by our decision rendered full sublime
by simplest action of creative hand
uttered each morning by serene command
the sound itself is richer than each chime
of golden bells tuned to a perfect prime
while the symbolic meaning is so grand
all that we say can be reduced to this
concision of significance and sound
where every symbol strains into the light
yet not a thing is here that we could miss
even if we retreat to harder ground
since we have turned our backs upon the night
