River Remembers

Morning comes without a sound
Mist is lifting off the ground
Bare feet press the river stone
We don't stand here on our own

Voices hum the oldest line
Low and steady, yours and mine
Water bends but never breaks
Every word the current takes

Circle wide and circle slow
Feel it in the undertow
Not a prayer we learned by name
Still we sing it just the same

River remembers, river knows
Every hand that let it go
Every name the current keeps
Every promise buried deep
River remembers, calling clear
You were always welcome here

Hands are raised but nothing held
No one leads and none compelled
Threads of sound begin to weave
More than any one can leave

Echo rides the canyon wall
One voice breaks and feeds them all
Notes that bend and dip and rise
Like the wind that never lies

Count it out but lose the count
Steps that shift but still amount
Time is not a thing we own
Still it beats us back to home

River remembers, river knows
Every hand that let it go
Every name the current keeps
Every promise buried deep
River remembers, calling clear
You were always welcome here

Ah ya re na
Ah ya re na
Ta na ri na
Ta na ri na

River remembers, river knows
Every hand that let it go
Every name the current keeps
Every promise buried deep
River remembers, calling clear
You were always welcome here

Mist returns and takes the sound
But the song stays in the ground
When we leave, it's still alive
In the turning