Gasping for water,

Grasping the edge,

Starving, screaming,

Shouting, slowing,

Falling silent now,

Then starting again,

Blinking back tears,

Marching, moving,

Running, rallying,

Falling, flying,

Calling and crying,

Saving, surviving,

All of it again

Every day, yesterday,

To-day, to-morrow,

Last week, next week,

Every day different,

Every day the same.

Always struggling,

Always scraping by,

Never quite dying,

But almost every day,

I suppose that’s the way,

Or at least, so I pray,

And my pennance pay,

Christopher, Christopher,

The same missing saint,

Guide of the traveller,

The epileptic,

The thousand sailors,

All to pay, pay, pay,

Just for one mistake,

The same missing saint,

The same missionary,

The same saviour

Of the lost, the weary,

Battered, torn and teary,