The Telescope Lyrics

I have a telescope

A tube for staring

My eye sees what it sees

I tilt it to a gentle slope

Point at a bearing

Due north, zero degrees

And we see

An open plain leads to rolling hills

The winds slowly cease

The long, waving green grass stills

It waits in peace

I have a telescope

A tube for staring

My eye sees what it sees

I tilt it to a gentle slope

Point at a bearing

North-east at forty-five degrees

And we see

Strange currents and waves disturbing

A vast roiling ocean

Teeming with fish shoals perturbing

The sea's ceaseless motion

I have a telescope

A tube for staring

My eye sees what it sees

I tilt it to a gentle slope

Point at a bearing

Due east at ninety degrees

And we see

Late sunset glows a silhouette

Some huge, lumbering slow

Creature, trudging forward yet

With nowhere to go

I have a telescope

A tube for staring

My eye sees what it sees

I tilt it to a gentle slope

Point at a bearing

Of one hundred thirty-five degrees

And we see

The glassy towers of a city

With one thousand souls

Moving without hope or pity

In meaningless roles

I have a telescope

A tube for staring

My eye sees what it sees

I tilt it to a gentle slope

Point at a bearing

Of one hundred eighty degrees

And we see

An almost featureless blinding white

Icy tundra, and in a ring

A huddled few set kindling alight

As they begin to sing

I have a telescope

A tube for staring

My eye sees what it sees

I tilt it to a gentle slope

Point at a bearing

Of two hundred twenty-five degrees

And we see

Beyond a dry-stone wall, upon a hill

In a biting morning

An arm and hand, not quite still

Is it waving or warning?

I have a telescope

A tube for staring

My eye sees what it sees

I tilt it to a gentle slope

Point at a bearing

Of two hundred seventy degrees

And we see

A void, no form or hue to be appraised

Nothing to stare upon

Whether unconstructed or erased

Here, all there is, is gone

I have a telescope

A tube for staring

My eye sees what it sees

I tilt it to a gentle slope

Point at a bearing

Of three hundred fifteen degrees

And we see

The number called by another mind

Whose patience I lack

I dread to look, I know I'll find

A piercing eye watching back

I have a telescope

I have a telescope

I have a telescope

I have a telescope