"Child" lyrics - PETER HAMMILL

I don't know quite what's happening
And my eyes don't see too clear;
All I know is I need you here,
If only to shield me from the mood of the world
And hold me and say it doesn't matter;
But I'm like a child whose dreams are shattered.

Crowding round me, images of broken thought,
Lines of my life now overgrown.
All I can feel is I'm so alone,
Without even your bright eyes to reach into my mind
And say that in my life I've done right,
And I'm like a moonchild in the sunlight.

So cast your thoughts upon me, wherever you are,
That I may feel you close beside me
And hold your hand, for you to guide me
Through all these catacombs which freeze me with their touch;
Unknowing, knowing so much, my mind cries out
And I'm like a child when the light's out

With a child's fear of the dark...