There's an old man throwing breadcrumbs to the sparrows,
Sitting on a bench beside the children's playground
And he nods and he smiles as he hears the careless laughter.
As I sit and watch the old man and the children,
There's a cold and lonely feeling running through me.
It is late in the day and the air is getting chilly
And it's time to go home - soon the shadows will be falling.
And I'll spend another night
Waiting for the morning light
Like so many nights before,
Until I hear his key in the door.
I'm amazed at all his words,
Soaring like the flight of the birds,
But the message they can bring
Is the flutter of a wing
Making ripples in the ocean,
Where the whales are seals to sea.
Down the slide she comes, my sister's younger daughter,
Giggles ringing in the ear like clear blue water
And her hand is so warm and so confident and sandy.
Lately, I have a constant need to see then happy.
Something breaks whenever one of them is crying.
Looking back as we leave, I can see the bench is empty,
But the sparrows remain and, as ever, keep on searching.
And I'll spend another night
Waiting for the morning light
Like so many nights before,
Until I hear his key in the door.
I'm amazed at all his words,
Soaring like the flight of the birds,
But the message they can bring
Is the flutter of a wing
Making ripples in the ocean,
Where the whales are seals to sea.
Sitting on a bench beside the children's playground
And he nods and he smiles as he hears the careless laughter.
As I sit and watch the old man and the children,
There's a cold and lonely feeling running through me.
It is late in the day and the air is getting chilly
And it's time to go home - soon the shadows will be falling.
And I'll spend another night
Waiting for the morning light
Like so many nights before,
Until I hear his key in the door.
I'm amazed at all his words,
Soaring like the flight of the birds,
But the message they can bring
Is the flutter of a wing
Making ripples in the ocean,
Where the whales are seals to sea.
Down the slide she comes, my sister's younger daughter,
Giggles ringing in the ear like clear blue water
And her hand is so warm and so confident and sandy.
Lately, I have a constant need to see then happy.
Something breaks whenever one of them is crying.
Looking back as we leave, I can see the bench is empty,
But the sparrows remain and, as ever, keep on searching.
And I'll spend another night
Waiting for the morning light
Like so many nights before,
Until I hear his key in the door.
I'm amazed at all his words,
Soaring like the flight of the birds,
But the message they can bring
Is the flutter of a wing
Making ripples in the ocean,
Where the whales are seals to sea.