Many tales I've heard of the soapstone bird
So I went along to see,
The Acropolis and the passages
In the temple masonry
But it all looked so familiar,
Like I'd been there once before;
I felt my mind slipping back in time
And when I saw him then I knew for sure.
He came down the stairs with his courtiers
With a soldier left and right
And his burnished golden bangles
Gave off a mystic kind of light.
His eyes were black and they took me back
As they bored into my soul
And then the smile and we spoke awhile
About the mediaeval days of old.
But the peace of mind and the quietness
Were the things I loved the most
As I sat reminiscing
With the old Zimbabwe ghost.
"When the world was young we were rich, my son,
Independent, wise and free,
From horizon to horizon
Our riches held the key.
And then they came in love's sweet name
To our bastion in the sky,
And just like the way of the world today
For the cause of greed to die".
But the peace of mind and the quietness
Were the things I love the most
As I sat reminiscing
With the old Zimbabwe ghost.
Then suddenly the reality of today was all around
And the footprints where the ancients stood
Were fading in the ground
I was misty-eyed as again I died
And the people stopped to stare
As I watched my host, the Zimbabwe ghost,
Go melting in the air.
But the peace of mind and the quietness
Were the things I love the most
As I sat reminiscing
With the old Zimbabwe ghost.