Farther On

In my early years I hid my tears And passed my days alone Adrift on an ocean of loneliness My dreams like nets were thrown To catch the love that I'd heard of In books and films and songs Now there's a world of illusion and fantasy In the place where the real world belongs Still I look for the beauty in songs To fill my head and lead me on Though my dreams have come up torn and empty As many times as love has come and gone To those gentle ones my memory runs To the laughter we shared at the meals I filled their kitchens and living rooms With my schemes and my broken wheels It was never clear how far or near The gates to my citadel lay They were cutting from stone some dreams of their own But they listened to mine anyway I'm not sure what I'm trying to say It could be I've lost my way Though I keep a watch over the distance Heaven's no closer than it was yesterday And the angels are older They know not to wait up for the sun They look over my shoulder At the maps and the drawings of the journey I've begun Now the distance leads me farther on Though the reasons I once had are gone I keep thinking I'll find what I'm looking for In the sand beneath the dawn But the angels are older They can see that the sun's setting fast They look over my shoulder At the vision of paradise contained in the light of the past And they lay down behind me To sleep beside the road till the morning has come Where they know they will find me With my maps and my faith in the distance Moving farther on