As I Sat Sadly By Her Side

As I sat sadly by her side
At the window, through the glass
She stroked a kitten in her lap
And we watched the world as it fell past

Softly she spoke these words to me
With brand new eyes, open wide
We pressed our faces to the glass
As I sat sadly by her side

She said, father, mother, sister, brother
Uncle, aunt and nephew, niece
Soldier, sailor, physician, laborer
Actor, scientist, mechanic, priest

Earth and moon and sun and stars
And planets and comets with tails blazin'
All are there forever fallin'
Fallin' lovely and amazin'

Then she smiled and turned to me
And waited for me to reply
Her hair was fallin' down her shoulders
As I sat sadly by her side

As I sat sadly by her side
The kitten she did gently pass
Over to me and again we pressed
Our different faces to the glass

That may be very well, I said
But watch the one fallin' in the street
See him gesture to his neighbors
And see him trampled beneath their feet

All outward motion connects to nothin'
For each is concerned with their immediate need
Witness the man reachin' up from the gutter
See the other one stumblin' on who can not see

With tremblin' hand I turned toward her
And pushed the hair out of her eyes
The kitten jumped back to her lap
As I sat sadly by her side

Then she drew the curtains down
And said, oh, when will you ever learn?
That what happens there beyond the glass
Is simply none of your concern

God has given you but one heart
You are not a home for the hearts of your brothers
And God does not care for your benevolence
Anymore than he cares for the lack of it in others

Nor does he care for you to sit
At windows in judgment of the world He created
While sorrows pile up around you
Ugly, useless and over inflated

At which she turned her head away
Great tears leapin' from her eyes
I could not wipe the smile from my face
As I sat sadly by her side

As I sat sadly by her side
As I sat sadly by her side
As I sat sadly by her side