The Reply of the Birds
(A response to this music- \'le rappel des oiseaux\' Composer Rameau, transcribed Debussy, played by Emil Gilels)
He shouts of love; meanwhile we see
beyond his shoulder, in the crook of the hill
A fire rises hungry and free
There is no grief, there is no harm
he cries, only joy. The smoke twists in the updraft and we plunge
towards the source of flame then bank out over bare slopes
of grey mountains that break to scree
the failing wind shall not becalm
us in the absence of being, we who can shriek
and who see the earth with the eyes of the surveyor of time
cannot be still or wait for the arm
of a master who must decree
the directions of the soul\'s tides and the strength of the storm
we will instead fly seaward to the far continent even if
there is neither chart nor certainty