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Luke Hardwick

The Songs of Distant Earth

The songs of distant Earth ring in our ears,
And in our minds;
But they won't sound in my heart,
Nor in my soul,
While the seas we left behind
Are free of fish,
And the mountains that we mined
Are free of gold.
The songs of distant Earth ring in our ears,
And in our minds;
Yet while the rivers that we killed
Are full of zinc,
And the pastures that we bombed
Are red with blood,
The songs won't sound in my heart,
Nor in my soul.
When I've known these songs for long and my heart
Should open wide,
Then the rivers silt will move and the seas
Will team with life,
Then the forests' roots will writhe and grow
Upon the roads,
And the buildings fall to earth and acorns grow
Amongst the holes.
Then the songs of Earth will cease, for the mouths
Will fill with seeds.
The wind that runs along the rushes,
The tree that falls into the sea,
The rabbit that will run from others:
They all sing their melodies.
Yet from our distant outlook
We'll fail to learn their song by heart
And crying "Chaos! Chaos masters!"
We'll turn and eat our blackened ears.