Travelers

Carolyn Arends

Well I should be there already
But my flight has been delayed
I'm a weary one of many
At an overcrowded gate
I have claimed my bit of carpet
'Cause there's not a single chair
And it's hard to be this grounded
When I should be in the air

It's funny at an airport
How you witness every scene
The frantic and the famous
And the basest kind of mean
There are signs to welcome daddies
There are flowers and balloons
Business trips and funerals

And happy honeymoons

You can guess some of the stories
'Cause it isn't hard to tell

The tears of sweet reunion
From the ones that bid farewell
There is variance in circumstance
Direction and occasion

But the truth is we're all travelers
Who have not reached our final destination

Eating raisins in the corner
Is a girl of five or six
She is sporting new shiner
Shaped just like her brother's fist
But I'm sure he didn't mean it

'Cause they get along just fine
Accidents will happen
When you're killing this much time

And over by the pay phones
Every guy who's got a wife
Will call to say he's sorry
He might not get home tonight

And that broker in Armani
Just keeps weaving through the crowd
Guess he's had a few too many
'Cause he's getting pretty loud

We are prodigals and pilgrims
We are sinners, we are saints
You can start to tell the difference

The more you make us wait
There is variance in circumstance
Direction and occasion
But the truth is we're all travelers
Who have not reached our final destination

Well you know those little carts
The employees drive inside
One guy keeps racing past here
Like the Indy's on the line
And the woman cleaning bathrooms
She sings Jesus is my Lord
While the girl who makes the hot dogs
Snaps her gum and just looks bored
Me I sit here dreaming
Of my pillow and my bed

The kids won't be awake
But I will kiss their sleepy heads
With a hundred other passengers
Who mutter up their prayer
Lord, it's hard to be this grounded
When we should be in the air

We are restless we are ready
To be any place but here
Waiting has a way of making
One thing very clear
There is variance in circumstance
Direction and occasion

But the truth is we're all travelers
Who have not reached our final destination
Yeah, the truth is we're all travelers
Who have not reached our final destination
Yeah