so too does the heart ask to receive

The past is so full of pain

Is the future full of pain also

Yes the future is full of pain

The bones of the dead are waiting

Shells are already washing ashore

The sky is unleashing destruction down

Upon the earth in waves of fire

And the bodies of men and women

Are loving one another forever

The tide comes so regularly

Will the moon be loyal too

Yes the moon will be loyal and will shine

Through the darkness for the child lying in bed 

Half in shadow who loves everything at once and is content. 

And the moon and the stars shall leave a trail

For those listening and wanting to follow

The animals are so lonely

Is their loneliness the fruit of our neglect

No the animals are alone for a reason

They do not need us, they hear us coming

And they flee into the wilderness

Let them go, let them alone

The cities we’re going to build

Will they touch the heavens and replenish the earth

No Earth replenishes herself

And the cities will crumble into dust

But out of the dust the cities will rise again.

Earth patient and enduring shall abide

The human swarm that levels her forests

And burns her fields and dams her rivers

But she shall not abide forever

The human shadow is so long and dark

Will life have its place in the sun

Yes life will have its place in the sun

The black terrible bulls will charge with their horns

And the air will be ablaze with their blood 

That drenches and soaks and seeps into the ground

For the next generation and the one after that. 

The death that sweetens the bitter old men

With imaginings of glory and sacrifice

Will flash affirming full of immediate and high longing

In the eyes of their sons

The death that stalks the present

Will it ever find a home

No the death that stalks the present

Will never find a home

It is hungry and ravenous and endlessly seeking

And its only aim is to accomplish its nature,

Whoever stands in its way is damned,

Whoever yields to it is also damned 

Sleep is so swift and deep in the night

And dreams carry us so far that we’re afraid

Will we always be afraid

No though you will hear the voice of sleep say your name

And the night will offer no shelter

Your safety is in going forward to meet your dreams

And taking them back with you into day

The people you meet by day will be the holy essence

Of where sleep takes you in the night

So lie down and be still where the pillow is soft

The morning of the next day seems so far away

Will we ever awaken 

Yes you will awaken when the time comes

And the sun will take pity and will rise

From dawn where it has always been 

And you will show your thanks by bearing witness

To the geography of pain which its light reveals

The old meanings are being lost for good

Will new meanings come to take their place

Yes new meanings will come to take their place

By those who dirty their hands in the rubbish of time,

Who fashion the sacred places where tears fall

And are caught in the hands of lovers, in the hands of children,

Who while they sleep know not what they do

Botsford, Alan. A Book of Shadows. Katydid Books, 2003.