All Hallows' Eve

Summer is closing
Samhainn is near
The darkness descends
on a wet autumn day

The light is fast fading
as winter draws nigh
the fire'll be lit
on All Hallows' Eve

We must not forget
who left us this year
All Hallows is that time
to remember

Erista (2)

Warmth envelops
Those high up
On the ladder
Of age

Looking down
From up above
On the sands
Of their youth

No forward look there
Just a wistful glance
Down
Over many a long year

Cold the wind blows
Soon to carry aloft
Beyond cognisance
Of mortal man

The spirit of youth
From its greyed-out shell
Flies to
Tir-nan-Og

Erista (1)

Cold the wind blows
Over the lowly roofs
The brown hill looms
Over the demure houses

Stark the church stands
Exposed to the wind
Rushing in from the west
From across the Atlantic

Long since its bell
Has ceased to toll
Over the town
Of the church

Empty its shell
Greys up on the hillside
Remembering words
And psalms that resounded within

Remembering

When the men in black leave
when the traffic queues resolve
when the bus goes back to base
and the church is locked up

When they return home
to an empty chair
and a silence
never to be filled

When the sun finally sets
over distant hills
darkness looms large
as the sea ceaselessly moves

All that remains
will be a tall standing stone
inscription it'll bear
slowly to fade

You are not gone
you live on in us
as long as we remember
you live on in us

The sea will recall
and the wind will whisper
the wild birds cry out
as the seasons revolve

Your name on a stone
Your name in our minds
Your face in our minds
Your soul lives on in ours