Day slowly passes
Its torch to the distance
Beyond the crowd who've gathered
All color will fade too
When the birds flee

Before the folk there stands
A group of men but one
His knees--left and right--knelt
His neck and head bowed
No face behind the black sag of hair
He will no longer be
When the birds flee

Voices ring and ring
Rash like a forest screaming
While the fires are lit
Still are only two
A mother and her daughter
Standing with the wind
Faintly it will wisp
When the birds flee

Life has been cast
Along with the day
Should tomorrow come
The day may turn so gray
Knelt is the man
And now his head shall lie
Away from that which lifted him
Another tale to tell
When the birds flee