(Sullivan) 2021
In the villages there are more dead than are living
The careful quiet lives of the unforgiven
Secrets buried deep beneath the stones and the bones
And the motorbikes and oil stains from ride-by killings
Mary’s piercing gaze from the stained-glass window
Framed in heaven’s light above the flickering candles
They tried to make a sanctuary here when the slavers came
But the doors were forced, they were dragged away in chains
From the wild island with its god unforgiving
His mouth is gaping sky, broken teeth made of mountain
The tombs of the families layered one upon another
Blood feuds and accidents, sister, brother
Nobody’s passed through these rusting gates for a hundred years or more
Where the flowers grow from solid rock
On the wild island with its god unforgiving
His mouth is gaping sky, broken teeth made of mountain
Sharp like the crushed shells strewn along the shore
Sharp like the knives and the wedding clothes
Sharp as the light pouring from the sky
Sharp as the truth when you cannot tell it all
The more dazzling the light, the darker is the shadow
You chose an overgrown path for us to follow
It led us up and up through the whispering trees
But we will never find what’s buried here
On the wild island with its god unforgiving
His mouth is gaping sky, black, broken teeth made of mountain
We take the wild roads, you and I
Gasp for breath round every corner
Here in the humming air, high above the blue water
Still unforgiven
We’re still unforgiven
Published by PRS/MCPS
