Ashes

Across the eerie waters Misty covered glass I spied A sad procession snaking down The dry and deathly trail And as my telescopic eye Focused on the marching line It settled on the fallen crown Now covered with a veil The heavy weight of mourning Drew each head to face the ground Muscles tight on bearers arms Each body cold and frail And through the muslin mist The beating drums the only sound Twenty boats out in the bay All ready to set sail Ashes, take me back to earth Water, quench my human thirst Ashes, take me back to earth Water, quench my human thirst My bones soaked in the icy cold And fixed me where I lay Until each vessel left the shore And made a line for me There never was a breeze The leaves were silent all that day They say the sails were ghosts That stole the wind to set them free I lay transfixed Felt nothing but the beating of my fear As flames rose up and swallowed whole Greatest of the fleet The others circled round And I heard chanting fill the air The ashes lifted high Were falling back into the sea Ashes, take me back to earth Water, quench my human thirst Ashes, take me back to earth Water, quench my human thirst