When The Wind Awakens

Thou art a watcher, and silent thou ever art;
Never has the wind awakened, blowing, in thine heart.
I too am a watcher, and silent I can be;
But only until the wind awakens, blowing from the sea.

When the wind awakens, then I hear the sea;
I hear all the tales the wind has come so many leagues to tell me.
I smell the scents of flowers awakening in the earth,
Where the wind blows, somewhere far away from the land of my birth.

I hear the tales of birds singing in fair foreign trees;
I hear the stories of birds spinning and scouring the surfaces of strange seas.
I see the countries of dream, the countries of the stories
That others have only read about, while I can see their glories.

When the wind awakens, then never wakes thine heart;
Thou mightest gaze from the walls, but silent, ever silent thou art.
Thou canst not see the things I see, the fair and wild things
That the wind comes sweeping from the sea to bear me on golden wings.

Thou canst not hear the ringing of the bells that have rung
Since the beginning of world, dawn of time, speaking their own clear tongue.
Thou canst not see the white horses running on a plain
So green that it is summer's favored coverlet, and spring's own favorite counterpane.

Thou canst only fear for the things that might away be taken;
Thine heart will never rise or beat its wings, no matter the wind awaken.
When the wind awakens, thou wilt stay huddled 'neath the sky,
Like a young dragon afraid to open its wings, let alone afraid to fly.

Thou art a watcher, from the world ever a little apart;
Thou wilt never awaken to the sound of the wind blowing in thine heart.
I am a watcher too, and apart from this world I can be;
But still my heart awakens when the wind does, blowing from the sea.