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1. Behold, the Sea Itself!

 

“Behold, the sea! Behold, the sea itself!

With the rise and fall of the ocean’s arms,

We will ride, we will ride.

“Behold, the sea! Behold, the sea itself!”

With a chant from ev’ry nation near and far,

She will rise, she will rise

 

The Sea:

“I am the tie that’s binding (“behold the sea!”)

The sun and moon, the tiding (“behold the sea!”)

The land and sky dividing (“behold the queen!”)

Dear world, I’m your queen, I’m your queen, you obey”

 

“Behold, the sea! Behold, the sea itself!

From the heavens the winds will carry us

We will ride, we will ride.

“Behold, the sea! Behold, the sea itself!”

From the deepest, blackest crude abyss

He will rise, He will rise

 

One day, one day, one day we’ll go

Right down her throat, the undertow.

 

See the horizon, love!

 

“Behold, the sea! Behold, the sea itself!

One day, one day, one day we’ll go

Right down her throat, the undertow.

 

(*inspired by Behold, the Sea Itself  from A Sea Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Walt Whitman*)

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2. Down at the Water’s End

 

Watchin’ ten grown people taste the salt in the air

And adapt to this world unknown.

It’s been 16 weeks since we’ve seen the pier

That stretched out from our great city home.

We’ve seen water and sky and the backs of our eyes

But not a single scent or hint of the earth.

What a life. What a life.

Not the life that I would prefer.

 

We were made to roam.

Not to die alone.

 

Take our brothers, take our sisters

Take our lovers down to the water’s end.

We have brothers, we have sisters

We have lovers down at the water’s end.

 

Our captain at the helm holds a most tender grip

As he navigates the gentlest seas.

I turn to Claire, with patience lend an ear,

To hear her troubled story and history

She’s seen sorrow and pain and brightness and fame,

But not a single scent or hint of the earth.

What a life. What a life.

Not the life that I would prefer.

 

We were made to roam.

Not to die alone.

 

Sea-captains young and old biting the threshold!

 

Take our brothers, take our sisters

Take our lovers down to the water’s end.

We have brothers, we have sisters

We have lovers down at the water’s end.

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3. Bring My Soul Back to the Earth

 

Been stranded for weeks on the sea

Just waitin’ for the rain to wash over me

The salt and sun bake our skin

Our heads are so heavy from hallucination

 

We’ve been so…

We’ve been so…

‘Cause the rain won’t wash away,

The rain can’t wash away our fear

 

We’ve been stranded for months on the sea

With the rocking and the rowing and the moaning of the breeze

Repulsed by the sticky on our skin

Our heads are so crowded with apparitions

 

We’ve been so…

We’ve been so…

‘Cause the rain won’t wash away our fear.

 

Come on, baby, bring my soul back to the earth!

 

‘Been stranded for years on the sea

Our skin is so dry and cracked that it bleeds.

My body aches, my spirit breaks, no light inside of me.

‘Been stranded for centuries and centuries and centuries

 

We’ve been so…

We’ve been so…

‘Cause the rain won’t wash away,

The rain can’t wash away,

The rain won’t wash away our fear.

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5. The Island King

 

The precepts of your world

They no longer have a place.

You have washed onto the shore

Of my humble dwelling place.

Don’t you see? “I’m ‘Enigma.’

The problematic son.

Unworthy, rejected by

The Woman’s holy tongue.”

 

“My goddess sings, Oh, Island King!

No man is as worthy of the reckoning.”

 

Wake up, we’re alive

In this body, we’re alive

“No one else will come to save you

Only with me you’ll survive.”

Who is he, this enigma?

The charismatic one?

When I interjected

Why, he hissed, “You hold you tongue...”

 

“Paradise awaits you.”

 

“My goddess sings, Oh, Island King!

No man is as worthy of the reckoning.”

 

When the mighty have fallen

The worthy go on! (x2)

We’re captivated by

his enigmatic words

“Oh Island King, you are worthy!”

 

“My goddess sings, Oh, Island King!

No man is as worthy of the reckoning.”

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6. The Turning

 

“Let the turning begin.”

Whispered quietly, the king.

“Come with me,” he told them all.

 

­­Minds weak, with no defense

They believed his false pretense.

Doubt, the wretch, began to gnaw.

 

“Let’s just talk about it both sides, both sides.

“Let’s just talk about the right side, wrong side.

 

“Go, we are turning back home. We are turning!”

“I’ve been warned of you before,

Been warned of you!”

 

“No, you can’t believe his lies!

You have seen her with your own eyes!”

“Only dreams,” he told them all.

 

They left without regret

An old man alone and then

“Woman, please!” they heard him call.

 

“Let’s just talk about it both sides, both sides.

“Let’s just talk about the right side, wrong side.

 

“Go, we are turning back home. We are turning!”

“I’ve been warned of you before,

Been warned of you!”

 

Unfortunate lovers knew nothing untold.

Some can’t see murder until it unfolds.

The creatures were cunning, the king ever bold.

He called to his slaves, “All control! I control!

I CONTROL YOU!

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7. The Exile

 

Alone on the beach, at night, tenderly

The old mother sways me to and fro.

I find in a dream, a calm reverie,

Her face, how I’ve pined for this scene.

 

Farewell friends, I’m falling in.

Soon I’ll sink, and you will swim.

I’m belly up and buried in

For I will sink and you will…

 

“Arise, my love.

Your time, dear, has come.

The old mother says, ‘It’s time to go’”

 

Farewell friends, I’m falling in.

Soon I’ll sink, and you will swim.

I’m belly up and buried in

For I will sink and you will…

 

(*inspired by On the Beach at Night, Alone from A Sea Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Walt Whitman*)

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8. The Ship

 

Only moments before we would fall,

A great vessel emerged from the mist’s heavy shawl,

It’s a world of its own, a kingdom alone on the sea.

 

From its head all the trumpets would call

In a fanfare triumphant, make way for us all!

It’s a world of its own, a kingdom alone on the sea.

There’s a tear in the hull…

 

H.S. Mightier!

 

Will you answer the call, my dear?

You have purpose among us, you’ll drive away the fear.

It’s a world of its own, a kingdom alone on the sea.

 

“As you ride along with me

I pray we’ll drift the waters with ease.

It’s a world of its own, a kingdom alone on the sea.”

There’s no tear in the hull…

 

H.S. Mightier!

Will you hold me my lover,

From here ‘til the end.

For I never want to go back there again.

Stay on the H.S. Mightier

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9. Beast

 

(Lesedi)

I stood upon the chasm;

A hole without an end.

The deck was writhing under feet

Crew ready to defend.

 

I looked into his soul

As he contemplated mine.

Slowly rose the beast in prose

A poetic, pure design.

 

Whoa…

 

(Kori)

I stood upon the chasm

The water’s wretched friend.

A dark blue devil under feet,

My lover to defend.

 

The beast rose up to triumph

Over my dear Marielle.

My golden rose, the one I chose

I would follow her through hell.

 

Whoa…

 

“I, the Wind, was wondering why you love the one named Ashia.”

 

(Lesedi)

I stand inside the chasm

Extinguished at the end

The flame that fell through dark and hell

Will never blaze again.

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10. Devona

 

Somewhere close he died, he died.

Somewhere closed his eyes, his eyes.

 

And the world is spinning

And the darkness thinning.

 

The ghosts surround us as we sleep

They swiftly infiltrate our dreams.

The ghosts will put your mind at ease.

They will return when the world is asleep.

 

And the world is spinning

And the darkness thinning.

 

The ghosts surround us as we sleep

They swiftly infiltrate our dreams.

The ghosts will put your mind at ease.

They will return when the world is asleep.

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11. The Portrait II

 

Finally we see the world with a brand new set of eyes.

The daytime gives them hiddenness, but at night they come alive.

 

“Bring forth the lovers so they’ll understand

Bring forth the lovers, they will hold my hand.”

 

Listen,

I can hear her voice so clearly.

I can hear it calm and easy.

 

And we’ll rise at the sound, it’s alive, it’s profound!

 

(the Woman)

 “Welcome, friends, I’ve waited for this day to arrive.”

She spoke with a calmness no words can describe.

“Will you please come in, my friends, know everything’s fine.”

She spoke with a wisdom no tongue can define.

 

Finally we hear the world sounding one triumphant cry.

We leave the daytime’s bright excess as the people come alive.

 

(the Woman)

 “Welcome, friends, I’ve waited for this day to arrive.”

She led us through the doorway, and led us inside.

“Will you follow me, my friends, know everything’s fine.”

Within was a room that no tongue can define.

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12. Epilogue: Lovely One

 

This is where I begin to fade

This is when I begin to love.

I will live here eternally

Holding your body close.

 

We sing the serenade ‘round a painted face

A portrait I know.

With the coming day friends will leave this place

And finally go

 

 “Lovely one you breathe in the sun

You hold me in wonder”

 

This is where you depart, my friends

This is when you will reach the end

I will live here eternally

But you must go home again.

 

“Lovely one you breathe in the sun

You hold me in wonder”