A husband waits outside, A crying child pushes a child into the night She was told he would come this time Without leaving so much as a feather behind To enact at last the perfect plan, One more sweet boy to be butchered by men But the gateway to the world Was still outside the reach of him Would never belong to angels Had never belonged to men The swan upon Leda Empire upon Jerusalem A grandmother smuggling meds Past where the god child-soldier Setanta stood dead Our graceful turner of heads Weaves through the checkpoints like a needle and thread Someone’s frightened boy waves her on She offers a mother’s smile and soon she’s gone The gateway to the world, The gun in a trembling hand, Where nature unmakes the boundary The pillar of myth still stands, The swan upon Leda Occupier upon ancient land But the gateway to the world Was still outside the reach of him Would never belong to angels Had never belonged to men