The Stars are Dying

Danger below—the stars are dying
A trap door has opened wide
Below where the shades are lying
And the demons reside.

Danger above—the branches are swaying
The forest has whispered long
No man knows what they are saying,
Though we bear their growing song.

What washed these silences aground
Tempted to become the sound
Of my final storm’s lightning flash
To the tongues of the sacred mound—
And where was thine own ash?

Tell me some sweet truth or lie
With yesterday’s long goodbye.
Farewell or greeting
Parting or meeting
Knowest thou that I shall weep
Salutation that passes by,
My heart with the fading sky
Knowest thou that I shall weep
Knowest thou that I shall weep.