Lyrics for "The Tide That Washes Clean the Shore"

The tide that washes clean the shore
Will scour and clean life's toll
The rolling waves dissolve my skin
And wash away my soul.
I see the last horizon dawn
As gold on mountain's blackest ridge
The singing of my journey heard
In wren's nest on the ledge.

A distant bell rings near the well
Where water eases thirst
The earth wraps me in moistest prayer
Of death and my rebirth.
*  My footfall on the mustard fields
Implants my trust to there reside
For this my land has surely been
My husband and my bride.
*  I hear the quiet humming tunes
That lay their notes in shadow's hand
A pillow where I'll lay my head
And pass into the land.

My lover sits beside my grave
Wherein my body lies
He listens for my bones to sing
For surely songs shall rise.
He hears the simple haunting songs
My bones had learned before I died
That I might meet and comfort him
With wonder when he dies.

* Note:  in the song, these two * are sung one after the other to the same second half of the melody, with leading notes into the second time.

Copyright © 2014 James Lawer