New Forest

By Gwen Knighton © 2002

There's a light in the forest
When the moonbeams filter down
There's a mirror in the greenwood
When the dew is on the ground
Every branch and every blossom
Every root and every leaf
Drink the tears of the Goddess in the morning.

Well, the sun was her lover
When the twilight came around.
He said, "Lady, I'll protect you
'Til the world stops turning round."
And she danced in his brilliance
While the forest people slept,
And she whispered in his ear the word, "Remember."

And the owls sang her song
And the crickets sang along,
And the people were soothed in their sleep.
Where her feet touched the earth
Midnight orchids sprang from nothing,
And the forest grew thick with her dreams.

There came wars, there came cities,
Wonders terrible and strange,
But the light from the greenwood
Flickers down despite the change.
Every field every farm house,
Every tired city street
Knows the tears of the Goddess in the morning.

When the sun comes to kiss her
And she slips out of her bed,
They are young and old and ageless,
Sunset paints the city red.
Shall we dance in the twilight,
Watch the suburbs go to sleep,
And lift a glass to all the people who remember...

That the trains sing her song,
And the streetlights hum along,
And the people are soothed in their sleep.
Where her feet touch the sky,
Shooting stars spark out of nowhere,
And she wraps the city tight in her dreams.

And the owls sang her song
And the crickets sang along,
And the people were soothed in their sleep.
Where her feet touched the earth
Midnight orchids sprang from nothing,
And the forest grew thick with her dreams.