Rising Star

In the morning we met at the water
And swam with no reason to speak
Out past the arc of the heron
And the flash in the kingfisher's beak

You gave up your tears in deep water
When the weight of the waves met your chest
Choking on words that were broken
When the wind cut off waves at the crest

Keep your eye on that Rising Star
It's where we're from, it's who we are
When no hope is rising
We'll reach out for that Rising Star

Those who settled these hillsides before us
And pulled all the stones from the fields
Now rest in straight rows in the churchyard
Where, on Sundays, their grandchildren kneel

Some of those stones became thresholds
And some still lean over their graves
One, by the hour, ground the grain into flour
Where the wheel met the weight of the waves

Keep your eye on that Rising Star
It's where we're from, it's who we are
When no hope is rising
We'll reach out for that Rising Star

When we all come to the table
With the light and the lines on each face
To be broken like wheat and still able
To reach for the words that say grace

For to measure our lives by our fences
Is forgetting these creeks all entwine
And to say that this river's just water
Is to say that communion's just wine

Keep your eye on that Rising Star
It's where we're from, it's who we are
When no hope is rising
We'll reach out for that Rising Star