Moonlight pours down without mercy No matter how many have perished Between the trees the river rolls on The river rolls on There will always be silence No matter how long Someone has wept against the side of a house Bare forearms pressed to the shingles Everything ends Even pain, even sorrow The swans drift on Reeds bear the weight Of their feathery heads Pebbles grow smaller Smoother beneath night's rough currents We walk long distances Carting our bags, our packages Burdens or gifts We know the land is disappearing beneath the sea Islands swallowed like prehistoric fish We know we are doomed, done for, damned And still the light reaches us Falls on our shoulders even now Even here where the Moon is hidden from us Even though the stars are so far away Even though the stars are so far away