Tree on a Hill

i’ve seen them all come through these parts
the cars, the trucks, the horse-drawn carts
they’ve measured out the area
apportioned ownership to her
a highway roars right through the land
a passage made of tar and sand
it never stops come moon nor sun
a constant carbon background hum

and i watch you come and go
dressed in your working clothes
a round peg in a hole that’s square
but you look up and you see me there
see me there
see me there
see me there

a king lies resting in my roots
dressed up in jewels and golden boots (inside this mound)
a thousand dead sleep at its core
the victims of a civil war (some would expound)
they stand around and theorise
a fortress built to watch these skies (i heard them say)
but all i know it’s home to me
a little hill bearing a tree

and i’ve seen you pass through here
you wiped away that tear
and you call it patience, not despair
then you look up, and you see me there
see me there
see me there
see me there

i wonder why i came to be a solitary conker tree
a standing joke, a mockery
but there’s people on the thoroughfare
and they look up and they see me there
see me there

one day they’ll chop me to a stump
and separate me from this tump
they’ll cut me up and cart me down
and spread my wares across this town
a timber mill will strip me dry
and sell my parts for DIY (i know they will)
my branches used for fuelling flames
when nights draw in and summer wanes (as it always does)

i watched as you fell through
the cracks beneath your shoes
and i know life steps on you
i promise you’ll get through
cos when you’re driving by
look up and me and don’t ask why
because there’s magic in these boughs
just breathe it in and don’t ask how

you’re a round peg in a hole that’s square
but if you look up, you’ll see me there
see me there
see me there
see me there