The Lantern

The river brings butterfly wings Carries shining feathers of birds And flowers and branches of trees And broken bodies maimed In black waters, they all sank Devoured by the depths The bodies in Tuonela's stream The kings of renown The mightiest of men Jumbled together with lowly slaves All smeared into pulp The flesh of the families The bones of the tribes Deprived of their trophies Dismembered and crushed In a pool beneath the stream The waters ceased to boil Then dulled the roar and foaming froth Tuonela's river had calmed By the side of the waters black In the never-ending night Flickered a small lantern A fire danced on the shore The kings of renown The mightiest of men Jumbled together with lowly slaves All smeared into pulp The flesh of the families The bones of the tribes Deprived of their trophies Dismembered and crushed Who was he who walked the night And stirred on the stony shore? Moved along those murky banks Roamed the riverside Who walked the night?