Talia the thief

Talia the thief

Talia the thief
Was a shy kind of girl
She lived on her wits
And by stealing all your pearls
Her shack in the forest 
Was poor and humdrum
Sweet Talia was a thief
Every village should have one

There’s the baker and the miller
The farmer and many more
The teacher and the road-builder
They all lived by the law
But Talia, sweet Talia
Her role was to steal
‘Cause folks they had to miss something
To know just how to feel

She stole furs and she stole diamonds
And she stole money just for fun
And if she was ever caught
She was whipped but never hung
The townsfolk they all knew
She’d return what she did steal
More often than not
For the price of just a meal

But Talia grew complacent
And the townsfolk they would know
And when something went missing
To her hovel they would go
And little by little
They grew complacent themselves in turn
They forgot how to fear
Or feel angry or feel hurt

So the King he decided
To speak with the thief
To remind her of her duty
To bring the town to grief
All things needed balance
For the good of the town
He suggested to lowly Talia
That she should steal his crown

‘And if you accomplish this,
I’ll reward you so well
I’ll make you a fine lady
And you won’t have to steal
We’ll find another thief
And you will never lack
You’re pretty and you’ll marry
And you’ll have children on your lap’.

So Talia she set out
By pale moonlight to the town
To the palace of the King
To steal his fine crown
But there in the shadows
An old witch lay in wait
And she tricked little Talia
And forever changed her fate

‘Here is the crown
Here it is little girl
It’s worth much more than diamonds
Or a thousand bright pearls
Take it away and hide it
And never look at the crown’,
But what she gave Talia
Was the soul of the town

Now a town without a soul
Quickly turns to decay
There’s no longer any balance
‘Tween the night-time and the day
If you don’t have a soul
Then there’s nothing you can feel
Not anger, nor laughter
And there’s nothing let to steal

Talia, O Talia
What have you done?
The King still has his crown
But the sky has no sun
The moon has no silver
And the children have no fun
The town has no soul
And now you’re on the run

‘How can I give back
The soul of the town?’
Poor Talia she wept
And then a great blue bird flew down
‘My child I can help you
Because I know the source
The soul lives in the eternal heart
Upon a winged horse

‘At midnight & mid-day
You should practice this new art
Release the winged horses
That belong inside the heart
To the sky, to the moon
And to the river so cold
To the King and to the people
You give back the town its soul’

And all this was accomplished
And the town was bathed in gold
And so for the very first time
The town knew of its soul
They did not know what they had
Until it was gone
And Talia the thief
Is now Talia the song