Memory

Vast are the stones which sleep beneath—
Mighty the walls from which they fell.
Worn smooth, all alphabets erased,
And only memory can tell.
Ten thousand years consumed by flame—
Ten thousand more to pay the debt.
And any being who survives
Only remembers to regret.

Cold are the shadows in our minds,
Hard are the edges of the well.
Deep are the waters, deep and still,
And only memory can tell.

Just like the river flowing red,
Just as the golden sun will set—
The only one who knows at all
Only remembers to forget.