Mother Tongue

Lyrics

Fierce and failing The blue shale The shawl on her pale head Where the hair once fell I see it ailing The blue whale The tremor in the right hand You could only hide so well When the cloud comes and you lose the sun The history of the river: Just give it time to pass It was never ours. It's only weather Red in the water From the chemical wars. When the cloud comes and you lose the sun I should be angry Just give it time to pass. It's only weather But I'm just tired The red water flowed from me Before it was a child When the cloud comes and you lose the sun Just give it time to pass Days are fading. When everything is lost Turtle dove. And you don't know what to trust: trust the moss Crushed velvet in the hall The color of our love. Trust the geese criss-crossing their way back home Edged with pavers, When the cloud comes and you lose the sun Crusher run. Trust the meadowlark in the sage brush, landing in a Patch of sun Fortify the forest. It's only weather Trust the forest It's the only way it's done. Trust the moss When the cloud comes and you lose the sun Fierce and failing: When everything is lost Just give it time to pass by, it's only weather The mother tongue. And you are sky opening to the West And you don't know what to trust, trust the moss Feeling the absence now You are sky opening Of all the ones I've lost Trust the geese criss-crossing their way back home And if I've learned one thing: Just give it time to pass by A mother's love Is a compass in the wilderness