Lily Town
Posted: November 24th, 2012, 7:11 am
Scant visitors up here in the wild and green
These days none down there would even dare
Farsighted eyes take in quite a different scene
Looking not for me, I see them standing there
The foppish mayor and his Lily Town belles
Fair and wavering in the breeze, seen from afar
Tempting me to leave these mountains and vales
Lily Town at night lighting up like a distant star
Curiosity among other reasons brings me down
Into the dark shadows at the edge of Lily Town
Just beyond the lights, laughter and jingling bells
Laying still on my belly upon grassy ground
Well in the open as there was not a single tree
Fancifully foreign, abounding movement and sound
From the darkness I watched them, but none saw me
Moon hanging like a scimitar on this summer night
Upon the mayor’s broad green, tables set for a feast
The fires and many lanterns provide enough light
More of their kind steadily arriving from the east
This is not the first dark night I have sneaked down
To steal a fine horse or two from a colonial town
Soon I would be safely back home at Eskippakithiki
My first visit here was by the light of midday
Many fine pelts and buckskins we came to trade
With rum they cheated and then chased us away
Not mindful of the foolish mistake they just made
At gun point they arrogantly threatened us harm
From afar when we issued our howls of protest
A prominent young Wyandot was shot in the arm
His people would not long give this vicious act a rest
From the northwest they would surely sweep down
Soon they would savagely lay waste to Lily Town
I may as well steal some fine horses before then
These days none down there would even dare
Farsighted eyes take in quite a different scene
Looking not for me, I see them standing there
The foppish mayor and his Lily Town belles
Fair and wavering in the breeze, seen from afar
Tempting me to leave these mountains and vales
Lily Town at night lighting up like a distant star
Curiosity among other reasons brings me down
Into the dark shadows at the edge of Lily Town
Just beyond the lights, laughter and jingling bells
Laying still on my belly upon grassy ground
Well in the open as there was not a single tree
Fancifully foreign, abounding movement and sound
From the darkness I watched them, but none saw me
Moon hanging like a scimitar on this summer night
Upon the mayor’s broad green, tables set for a feast
The fires and many lanterns provide enough light
More of their kind steadily arriving from the east
This is not the first dark night I have sneaked down
To steal a fine horse or two from a colonial town
Soon I would be safely back home at Eskippakithiki
My first visit here was by the light of midday
Many fine pelts and buckskins we came to trade
With rum they cheated and then chased us away
Not mindful of the foolish mistake they just made
At gun point they arrogantly threatened us harm
From afar when we issued our howls of protest
A prominent young Wyandot was shot in the arm
His people would not long give this vicious act a rest
From the northwest they would surely sweep down
Soon they would savagely lay waste to Lily Town
I may as well steal some fine horses before then