When the Irish clouds are grey
The sea rises mournfully
To night from day.
Ye can hear her sing the song
Of once her lonely lover gone.
He was a star, the tale goes,
He saw the Sea and thought her a rose.
And when he smiled
She saw a child
So they danced till the sun stole away the night
She the Sea and he the Light.
And in the morn, their daughter was born
Reflection was her name.
She was a brilliant child
Free and wild
Her beauty bright and untamed.
But the Sea could not contain her
Nor ever could the sky.
And all the world lay bright before her
When she danced through Shadow’s eye.
“Shadow,” she said, tilting her head,
And smiling as she asked,
“Why do ye sit here all alone?
Did ye ne’er learn to dance?”
Shadow shook his lonely head
And she offered her hand
And the Sea and Star too late to save her
Watched her pass into his Land.
Nevermore did they see
Reflection’s brilliant smile
And filled with grief, Star and Sea
Sang of Silence who stole their child.
Then the Star began to weep
And being made of fire and light
He cried his brilliant soul to sleep
And softly, dimly, became the night.
The Sea, already made of tears
Reached her waves out for the Star
But through many tides and storms and years
Never could she reach so far.
And so she sways gently
By the Irish shore Her rhythm a sweet lullaby
To her daughter gone before
And ye can hear her sing the song
When the Irish clouds are grey
Of her lonely starlit lover gone,
As she mournfully rises from night to day.
2011