One day this sea of sadness will become
A garden, like the one that was before
One day all of these things will be undone
A bird will carry pebbles to the shore
and throw them one by one into the sea
and turn and fly away to gather more
Each story's end begins another one
As mountains are eroded to restore
More ancient hills, where ancient rivers run
Past eaves and apple trees that line the banks
Of holy river Alph, where cormorants
Bring fish to fishermen, who give their thanks
And on the shore, children reach out their hands
And stretch their arms, and legs, and necks as if
In imitation of the cormorants
And on the other shore, arrayed in ranks
An army fit to fight, their idle hands
Have turned to pageantry and shooting blanks
No stone will stand atop another one
The depths will swallow all that came before
Beneath the sea, where deeper currents run
A girl, Jingwei, will fall with many more
And tumble and be swallowed by the sea
And be reborn: that bird upon the shore
A loss like this can never be undone
The very thing that she seeks to restore
Keeps Jingwei blind to what it will become