The Handsome Family Follow

Up the snowy spires
Where the air is thick as glass
Once a year the cold mist clears
You can see inside the earth

High in that crystal palace
I’ve built a sailing ship
Mastered wheel of polished brass
Sails of gold and silk

I pyte the engine steam
I set for long citations
I consulted dusty maps
Said careful, care the glaciers

Never in, we’re never in
Hearing through my scope
I sail deep into the hollows
Deep inside the earth

I travelled a boiling river
Through streams of mercury
Under these volcanoes
And the roots of ancient trees

Underneath stalactites
I lit phosphorous lamps
Sparks snapped into the air
And coiled up the mist

I watched enormous birds
Diving through the slate
As I stood upon the ground
In my oil skin cap and cape

At last, my anchor caught
And echoed through the stone
As I climbed and old broke ladder
Pile through the globe

And up above I saw it
A glow worm’s little light
And I reached out and caught it
In the center of the night

Tightly in my fist
I held that glowing worm
Deep down in the hollows
I held the center of the world