She rang the bell at the hilltop and raised the lamp over the city,
singing,
Wake up, men!
Awake, women and children
Wake up and sing the song of the wealthy sunrise.
She walked down a mile through the overgrown forest,
overtaken by wild weeds and dead trees
Soldier ants built their homes on many trees,
worms milled around in dead logs.
She shook the tree trunks and branches
Wake up, forest guards
stand tall, reach the skies,
be green
bear fruit
feed the earth
grow across the nations.
She walked another mile up a ladder
to a tilted treehouse covered with cobwebs
She swept a broom through the white web
Away, away mesh.
this house will be inhabitable again.
She went down a valley
and stumbled into dry bones. Crying, she
scooped up skulls and bones and hugged them to her chest.
Wake up you, sleepy giant
Live again!
They rattled, joint to joint, flesh grew,
laughter sounded across the valley
living beings stood,
walked out of the valley and went home.
She walked two miles up to the watchtower,
the stairs cracked with each step she took
The railings gave way, rotting to sawdust in her hand
The path was dark and abandoned.
She lit up the lamps on her way and rolled her sleeves.
She reinforced the bricks, rebuilt the defences,
secured the beams and roof, lit a lamp at the top
May watchmen take up the tower.
Two sentinels arrived and took their stand.
She screamed a command,
Keep your heads up,
your eyes must stay white and wide.
Watch the city for foxes and intruders.
She went down to the salty sea,
It was lonely, covered with seaweeds and dunes.
A mighty dead tree stood in the middle of the sea.
At the harbour, boaters docked boats,
fleets of rusty, wrecked, and unused. And men snored.
She stirred, the waters; tapped the men and untied the boats
Wake up sea, wake up sailors
Wake up, merchants, saddle the boats
steer the ships,
sail across the Mediterranean
cross the seven rivers
sing the song of the wealthy morning.
