Reincarnation Blues

Canto I



'Twas a distant dance ago
Realer than a writer's rhyme
Longer than you'll ever know
Little to do with what's called time.

If a century or two is time at all
Then dream of it before you go
Then dance to it spring and fall
For when you go you'll never know.

You think there's nothing at all to lose.
You better think again, baby,
And heed the Reincarnation Blues:
That death's a-dawning and that ain't maybe.

It all depends on certain stuff
You did or didn't do last time
Being good is not enough
Nor partaking of Bread and Wine.

Is there time still to repent
For all the bad you did to others?
For all the gifts to yourself you sent
Instead of to your sisters and your brothers?

It still depends on all the stuff
You did or didn't do this time:
Being good is not enough
If love in life is left behind.

You think there's nothing at all to lose.
You better think again, baby,
And heed the Reincarnation Blues:
That death's a-dawning and that ain't maybe.