A Stone Builds the Roof

[Verse 1]
O you who pass between fleeting words
Carry your names and be gone
Steal whatever you wish of the sea’s blue and the sand of memory
Take whatever images you please, so that you might know—
Though you will never know—
How a stone from our land builds the roof of the sky

[Verse 2]
O you who pass between fleeting words
Yours is the sword—and ours, the blood
Yours, the steel and fire—and ours, the flesh
Yours, another tank—and ours, a stone
Yours, the gas bomb—and ours, the rain
And upon us, as upon you, lie

Solemn contemporary art song with a restrained chamber-folk pulse, minor-mode piano, low cello, sparse frame drum, and distant wordless choir entering only near the end. Intimate, grave lead vocal with clear diction and measured phrasing; build gradually from nearly bare piano to a restrained, weighty final refrain, then end unresolved. Natural room ambience, close vocal, broad dynamic range, no glossy pop polish.