their shadow is our light (song lyrics)

"what's so small to you
is so large to me"
-- Suzanne Vega from Song of David


I am inwardly equipped
to resist my own despair
I hope to pass this along
so I can keep it

I am not a wealthy man
not a poor one
not middle class
I am nothing
I grow my life
only to reap it

I have little experience at this
and that counts for something
I have no fear of failure
just of effort

our light
is a stand of trees
the green they need to plow under
to fill their quotas

our light
is the shadow they cast
we sweep to the curb
we eat of its nerve

we’re not playing their game
we’re not even playing our own
we’ll not give them notice
we’ll not ignore them
we’re not against them
but we’ll not support them

when the rain comes exploding
in the belly of night
the darkness is beautiful
in its own right

and they've lost control of their hunger
they'd like to see us cave under
but we're too engaged in witnessing our wonder

when the rain comes exploding
in the soft womb of night
they’ll find us consuming their shadow
it gives us sight
when the rain comes exploding
on the open plains at night
their suffocating shadow
is the crux of our light