I cannot hear the story in
These creaking wooden halls
Not sense the pain and joy within
The crumbling stonework walls

And so I step into the light
And listen once again
To hear the tale of moonlit night
True now as it was then

There was a night some years ago
When I looked out to see
A ship sailing by my window
And calling out to me

To sail amongst the twinkling stars
Above the well-trod ground
Alas that waking often mars
A sweet dream as it’s found

I run across the soft green moss
Toward the crashing sea
For past the sands and rocky lands
The sea’s awaiting me

So quiet was I when the light
Of stars shone in my mind
Their brilliance reached past earthly sight
Allowing me to find

At last creation’s spark so rare
That which I daily seek
Yet find only in silent air
When my tongue has been meek

I walk amidst the burning trees
And wonder I aloud:
What worth had that which cost us these?
Of this choice are we proud?

Allow me this: to breathe this once
And for a time be still
To be not like unquiet ones
Whose lives are lust and will

To sally forth and face the foes
That morning with it brings
Might end the series of deep lows
’bout which this poet sings