Through the Archipelago

We kneel on the rocks,

we get our hair wet,

we shake it like crystal in the sun.

Centuries stream on

through the archipelago.

I see you and me in the

brackish mirror swirling

’round our ankles.

We are smooth and young;

soon our grandchildren will have wrinkles.

CHORUS

Salt water comes, salt water goes,

in and out through the stones.

The blue-silver-black

wandering beetle

has a lot of things to do…

She climbs down a knife of grass,

then back up and

then back down.

We climb back and forth

from spring to burrow;

we’ve got lots of things to do.

Centuries stream on

through the archipelago.

CHORUS

BRIDGE

Ancient sun filters though

new-life leaves; the very

air in our hair was breathed

by angels and dinosaurs.

The sand in our shoes

was once a mountain

and will become stone again in some

millenia.

We paddle with wind to a

bird-brushed island,

black-grey stone bearded with reeds.

We unroll the wool

woven by your grandmama.

We make our bed under

midnight sun

on pine needles and last year’s leaves.

We laugh at a seagull,

our laughter the rhythm of our dreams.

CHORUS

BRIDGE (just piano)

CHORUS