Black with Ink

Call to the ships on the water
A beacon light as the sun
A harbour safe
From storms
And from gods
Words here are worth more than gold
Ideas set loose to roam
An empire of the mind
A kingdom of parchment
And scrolls
Close by the water’s edge
A city wall was raised
Where roads and rivers
Part and meet
A house of wisdom was made
Where different worlds collide
Where words are set into place
And all good thoughts can be free
Let engineers make the gods speak
And water flow from the hills
With their magic and machines
If there are no high peaks
Build up a mountain of stones
Where the light is low
Make rise a gleaming tower
We see the same stars
Walk the same ground
Lit by the same sun
We could be one
A city bright with flames
A river black with words
Ink can fade and burn
And bleed
But stone will hold the lines
Though broken down in time
They made an empire of drowned words
A kingdom of ashes and fools
We see the same stars
Walk the same ground
Lit by the same sun
We could be one