This Strange Engine

(Music: Marillion Lyrics: Steve Hogarth) There was a boy who came into this world at the hands of a holy woman in a holy place He wore a red coat and walked a bulldog-saw them reflected in the mirror of the lakes Lived in the shadow of the mountains with the smells of disinfectant, dusty old leather and the polished wood of his bed No more than a baby feeding swans on the river holding the hands of his mother, and the wax paperbag of yesterdays bread And his father on the other side of the world On the ships railings and some far away tide With the silent dry tear of home thoughts from abroad in his far away eyes In his far away eyes The smell of the wax on the wooden floor Mixture of polish and soap No children to fear or to play with Rows of empty hooks for the coats An upright piano and the boys in the choir Still remind him of just before he was born Remind him of just before he was breathing Strange misty visions of God