"Riverdance Poetry"
by: Theo Dorgan
"Reel Around the Sun"
Out of the dark we came, out of the sea,
Where the long wave broke on the shore,
As the day broke and the night rolled back,
There we stood on the land we would call home.
Out of the dark we came, out of the night,
The first of many moons in this new place,
When the sun rolled back the mist,
We rose like a stong wave on land,
Now WE were the people of this place.
What burns through the rain and the mist?
What banishes dark?
What makes the children straight and bright?
What makes the mountain shout?
The sun is our lord and father,
Bright face at the break of day,
Comfort of hope, cattle and crop,
Lord of the morning, lord of the day.
Lifting our hearts to sing his praise,
Dance in his healing rays...
"Thunderstorm"
Thunder and lightning batter the rocks,
The winds howl and great storms break on the forest,
Scatter the heards like grain.
Fire leaps from dark to dark,
Fear and anger leap to meet it,
We will not go down,
We will not be beaten down like grain.
"American Wake" (intro.)
No life is forever,
We found and fought here, we loved and died here,
Wave after wave the sea of time beats against every shore.
Whole generations now, lift here to depart,
The land has failed us,
The dark soldiers appear against us.
In dance and song, we gift and mourn our children,
They carry us over the ocean, in dance and song...
(closer)
Dawn and the ships are leaving,
A lover's grief is lifting on the tide,
And hearts too young for sorrow torn assunder,
The cruel ocean's deep and dark and wide.
"Harbour of the New World"
Out of the night we came, out of the sea,
On a new shore, lights blaze in the dark,
Motherless, fatherless, torn from our homes,
We bring tears to this land,
We must make our own.
"Trading Taps"
Tall and straight my mother taught me,
This is how we dance.
Tall and straight my father taught me,
This is how we dance.
Battering feet on the city street,
In pools of light on street corners,
The proud bright carnival of the poor.
"Heartbeat of the World"
Cry of an infant,
Heartbeat of the world.
Storm against ship,
Heartbeat of the world.
Heal upon floor and wave against shore,
Heartbeat of the world.
Sigh of a lover,
Heartbeat of the world.
Cry of a mother,
Heart of the world.
Oh unstopped,
Heartbeat of the world.
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