Flying over Sioux Falls
Down there, something forms a circle
Must be a stadium wide
Is it spinning counter-clockwise?
Is it a water wheel?
No, see it spins like a mobile
Is it the wind bent down?
No, it is spinning round and round
Is it a fresh-plowed patch?
What on the Earth would spin like that?
As we descend for landing
Do my naked eyes deceive me?
It is women and men
Thousands of them and their children
Spinning like thread around a spool
Circling 'round like a whirlpool
What do they chase and chase?
What is the terror on their face?
As the wondrous spell
Trodding upon the ones that fell
Oh, my eyes!
Do I see my late mother
Caught in the mill
Whipping around her five children?
Do you see them run?
Do you see Benjamin falling?
Do you hear them hum
In dissonance?
A torch, a Zippo
A pocket knife, whistle
One space blanket
And a first aid kit
We touch down on the airport apron
And go to the field where they run
Feels like standing on the edge of a cyclone
As the word picks up and spins like a cyclone
Many more flailing in
Caught by the wind and confusion
Like ants that have lost their scent
Following where their leader went
Caught in a spiral wind
Many collapse from exhaustion
Caught in the spoke of the wheel
Stamped under foot, under hoof, under heel
Oh, my eyes!
Do I see my late mother
Caught in the mill
Whipping around her five children?
Do you see them run?
Do you see Benjamin falling?
Do you hear them hum
In dissonance?
A torch, a Zippo
A pocket knife, whistle
One space blanket
And a first aid kit
It is Armageddon
Ballet for the madam
But it's not a rainbow
But a weak president
A torch, a Zippo
A pocket knife, whistle
One space blanket
And a first aid kit
It is Armageddon
Ballet for the madam
But it's not a rainbow
But a weak president
A torch, a Zippo
A pocket knife, whistle
One space blanket
And a first aid kit
It is Armageddon
Ballet for the madam
But it's not a rainbow
But a weak president