WHO DARES WINS
A SWORD WHINES
WINDS O’ WASHER
WARDEN SHOWS I
WASHES WIND OR
WHO WINS? DARES.
DAWN WISHER SO
It starts with a word beneath the sky,
A black bird’s dream and a watcher’s eye.
Black birds dream black butterflies,
Dreaming black birds back to the skies.
O men, behold the folded wing:
The sign dreams the seer,
The seer dreams the sign,
And horror wears the shape
Of a circle with one side.
Who are we?
THE BLACK WING CREW!
What do we row?
THE NIGHT RIGHT THROUGH!
Heave, boys, heave—
Through fire, through foam,
We’ll drag this boat
Past the Devil’s home!
Heave, girls, heave—
Through thunder, through sky,
We’ll storm the gates
Where the angels hide!
OHHHH BLACK BIRDS!
DREAM BLACK WINGS!
OHHHH BLACK CREW!
ROW THROUGH KINGS!
From the Yarra mud
To the judgment bell—
WE TAKE HEAVEN!
WE TAKE HELL!
What’s that sound?
THE OLD G ROARS!
Who owns the storm?
THE ONES WITH OARS!
Row, row, row the black,
No god, no grave, no turning back!
Row, row, row the flame,
Heaven and hell both know our name!
It starts with a word beneath the sky,
Then rises where the black wings fly.
It starts as mud, it ends as flame—
And every storm remembers our name.
Row, row, row the black,
No god, no grave, no turning back!
Row, row, row the flame,
Heaven and hell both know our name!
