Dancing Shadow

Your spirit dances under ancient trees
By a forest road
On a mossy rock, your shadow lingers
You will join the circling Sun
Close your eyes and listen closely
To the sound beneath your thoughts
You will find the heart of time
Echoing the beating drum

Leave your body and shift your shape
The weasel slips into the stump
The otter dives beneath the roots
Into the depths of the earth
Past the earth and gravel, beneath the ground
Swoops the black-throated bird
Swims the seal and the walrus black
Into the watery abyss

Beyond the gates to lightless lands
Carved in spruce, hammered in oak
On the doors of the Mansions of Manala
Death is the only word you'll find
Close your eyes and listen closely
To the sound beneath your thoughts
You will find the heart of time
Echoing the beating drum, echoing the beating drum

Leave your body and shift your shape
The weasel slips into the stump
The otter dives beneath the roots
Into the depths of the earth
Past the earth and gravel, beneath the ground
Swoops the black-throated bird
Swims the seal and the walrus black
Into the watery abyss

You must turn from that door, run through the gate
Swoop as the walrus and the black-throated bird
Dart as the otter, flit as the weasel
Rise from the dirt into the light

Leave your body and shift your shape
The weasel slips into the stump
The otter dives beneath the roots
Into the depths of the earth
Past the earth and gravel, beneath the ground
Swoops the black-throated bird
Swims the seal and the walrus black
Into the watery abyss