We have spent rudderless nights waking up on a sail of regret She'd sit up, upon the bed, and angled to the west Dipped our fingers in, oh, the water, it was wet Dampness and shame, salty curls around the napes of our necks Punctured by the compass needles, riled with certainty The rescue boats are useless when none of us can agree Hear the briny call, the ocean's gusty gnashing of her teeth Breaking up the pretty cups and taking what she needs There's a knocking on the hull, you hear it There's bones a-rattling under us We set out without the smarts to fear it With ignorance and gutless trust Tell me once again if everything is as it seems If things are getting better, what's that crashing down the stream The wind, you say, the storm that came, remember our retreat And darker days might come and stay, and signal our defeat If drug up from the muck, I reel in what I hope will be A trove of golden apples from the golden apple tree Flush with fertile seeds, I give them all away for free For this our people should be known throughout all history But from here we crouch and watch the plunder Of the world we built with sweat and love Why were you not built for wonder Why will you never get enough You say when you landed you could tell That your conquest would go well Thought you wet yourself with fear You were sure your god was near The wind, you say, the storm that came And darker days might come and stay