The 49th Moonless Night

Fire flies towards the sky
People dancing all around
Flames reflected in their eyes
Shadows dancing on the ground

Elders sing their words of repent
Ancient heroes long forgotten
Called again to save their present
From becoming dead and rotten
Younger bodies twist their arms
Move their knees in music rhythm
All they trust is well known customs
And comfort of superstitions
Children mesmerized again
They look in their parents' eyes
Never known and never cared
For the problems this world hides

No silver shade upon the water of the rivers
No wolf is howling in the middle of the night

Stories heard reading their bodies
Translating the shapes and colours
Idols, gods or hunting trophies
Testimony for their values
Minute skulls hanged from their ears
Bones and splints piercing the skin
Burned out mazes to conceal
Secrets of the deep within

No silver light to join the green the glow worms cast
No map on which to read the passing of the time

Up in the sky, where they consign
The holy essence of their lives
There sits a god, a sacred sign
Singing his name shivers their spine
Down on the ground they have a stone
Shaped by the image of their god
An idol to portray their hope
And to remind them where to come
Inside a house, there sits a priest
He finds serenity in words
And now with hollow voice he sings
A prayer from his vocal cords

No silver gleam to mystify the watchful eye
No human in the sky to guard the restless night

Glade into the jungle’s sameness
They built their town inside of it
Protection from the wilderness
A sanctuary they try to keep
Their home for a thousand years
Born and died within its walls
Perfect place to escape fears
And easily elude their foes

No silver light from which the stars could take their glow
No stunning muse for future’s artists on the sky

Over the rooftops and the trees
Over the mountain and its might
You raise your eyes and you can see
The forty ninth moonless night