Rising Star

In the morning we met at the water

And swam with no reason to speak

Out past the arc of the heron

And the flash in the kingfisher's beak

You gave up your tears in deep water

When the weight of the waves met your chest

Choking on words that were broken

When the wind cut off waves at the crest

Keep your eye on that Rising Star

It's where we're from, it's who we are

When no hope is rising

We'll reach out for that Rising Star

Those who settled these hillsides before us

And pulled all the stones from the fields

Now rest in straight rows in the churchyard

Where, on Sundays, their grandchildren kneel

Some of those stones became thresholds

And some still lean over their graves

One, by the hour, ground the grain into flour

Where the wheel met the weight of the waves

Keep your eye on that Rising Star

It's where we're from, it's who we are

When no hope is rising

We'll reach out for that Rising Star

When we all come to the table

With the light and the lines on each face

To be broken like wheat and still able

To reach for the words that say grace

For to measure our lives by our fences

Is forgetting these creeks all entwine

And to say that this river's just water

Is to say that communion's just wine

Keep your eye on that Rising Star

It's where we're from, it's who we are

When no hope is rising

We'll reach out for that Rising Star