Shelter

Over there is America
In the minds of who live here
In the hearts of those who must believe
Their eyes want to see
And the hands long to touch
But the path is so worn
By the hungry and weary
Still down on their knees

Can't be true in America
The land of opportunity
Now the words have traveled far and wide
But a promise unseen
A vision unknown
And the sick and the helpless
Are waiting in thousands
To shelter the cold

They traveled this road
'Cause the message was clear
Said, "We take in all comers
All thieves, all forgotten
All helpless and old"

As the empire falls
And a hard-working hand
Fills a stranger's bowl
With the sweat from his brow
From the blood of the land

Drifting away in the water
Leaving the life I had back there
Upon the land where I grew to a man
Lost in the middle of nowhere
Is better than nowhere left to run
Though the body is cold
The heart needs to know
I've traveled too far just to die here alone
But maybe tomorrow the hunger will go
Days in the boat, nights in the boat
The water brings hope

Can you offer us shelter?
It's so cold in the night
We're so far from our homeland
And our spirit is all that survived
Set it free as the open sky