Hands wither in time
But we cannot stop the branch of the vine
Days that will come
And nights that have gone
Are washed in the tides ?
And cast in the brine
10 The Shaker's Cask
In my time of dying
May peace take your hands
And the steel that they harbored
Take earth by my side
With some help from a son
And the rose at your chest
Every measure of man that you've made
Will soon be replaced
Lay me down on the open ice
Where the Eskimeaux played
Lay me down eighty feet in the sand
Where the young pharoah's old gold was stolen
Lay me down
Lay me down
Lay me down as you please
But take your peace as my eyesight has ceased
And holy grails in old pails I can't seek
Now this poem and this flask
Where the good word was cast
And the catacombs that established our homes
And the dirt on the old Shaker's cask
They too will pass
And our pride will pass
And the coasts that divided your lies will pass
And the rivers pass with our brothers' grasps
Like the moons that have orbited us have collapsed
And the ghosts at the sands of the damned hourglass
And the many shores left, still
To follow their path