Then Came the Children

Come gather all around me friends

I'll tell to you about the minstrel band

Of children in their witches hats

And painting pictures with the pipes of pan

The young boy and his sister

Played some tunes upon a whistle made of tin

And led me through the flower gardens

Laughing at the postman's stubby chin

In my dizzy stupor

I was trying hard to forfeit all I'd known

And listen to this music

That could swirl me in a magic all their own

Oh, somewhere in the distance

You and I had fought the monster to a draw

In those days of books and wine

With Ferlinghetti grasping for a straw

Out along the highways

We had journeyed far to find the mystic smile

With chasing down identities

My God, we must have run a million miles

Oh, we can teach them nothing

Nothing but survival in a desert bed

But they can teach us how to love and live

And tie bright ribbons in our hair

Oh, sing for us you children

Tinkle bells and rhyme the purple, green and blue

And think of us as fighting fools

Who wintered through the seasons loving you

Oh, we can teach you nothing

Nothing but survival in a desert bed

But you can teach us how to love and live

And tie bright ribbons in our hair