Pete Atkin sings
The Last Hill
That Shows You All The Valley

by Clive James and Pete Atkin,
from A King At Nightfall

[Much more at www.peteatkin.com]

LYRIC:

On the last hill that shows you all the valley
Look back to see what little's to be seen
Burned books left over from the rally
A worker-priest left bleeding in the alley
And realise the place was never green

On the last hill that shows you all your travel
Look back to see your tepees disappear
A team of army dump-trucks full of gravel
Comes to fill the graves and tamp them level
The buffalo will not return this year

On the last hill that brands you as a dreamer
Look back to see the dreams were always true
The Persians went ashore at Iwo Jima
Christ was in the gold mines at Kolyma
Denounced because his mother was a Jew

On the last hill that shows you all the battle
Look back to everywhere you cried for joy
The killer-dogs run down your barren cattle
Your kid Cassandra walks collecting metal
And you'll see when those rows of dust-clouds settle
There are helicopters on the walls of Troy