Peter Hammill - The lie

Genuflection / erection in church. Sacristy cloth / moth-eaten shroud. Secret silence / sacred secrets accumulate dust, aggravate the eye. Incautious laughter after confession. Benediction ------- fictional fear Hidden faces ... Grace is a name, like Chastity, like Lucifer, like mine. You took me through the window-stain, drowned in image, inscence, choir-refrain and slow ecstasy ------ I'd embrace you if I only knew your name.... The silent corner haunts my shadow prayers : ice-cold statue -- rapture divine, unconscious eyes, the open mouth, the wound of love, the Lie. You took me, gave me reasons for saints and missals, vigils, all the more holy martyrs ----- I'd embrace you and walk through the one-way door... I'd embrace you, but it would be just another lie ----------