Verse 1 (Afternoon)
I walk where the water goes talking to stone
The sun on my shoulder, the day still my own
The reeds lean in close, they don’t ask me why
I follow the current that leads me upstream
Verse 2
My feet know the path though my mind drifts free
The stream does the thinking, not I, not me
I carry no message, no promise, no plan
Just the sound of his laughter somewhere in the land
Chorus
I go as I go, like water and light
No oath for the morning, no knot for the night
What comes, let it come, what stays, let it stay
I walk with the stream on its own chosen way
Verse 3 (Meeting)
He waits where the willow bends low to the air
With time on his hands and dust in his hair
We sit without counting the hours that pass
The world does not hurry the shade or the grass
Verse 4 (Evening)
Now the sun slips away like a word left unsaid
I turn with the stream as the daylight turns red
The water knows home as well as desire
It loosens its grip and cools from the fire
Chorus
I go as I go, like water and light
No oath for the morning, no knot for the night
What comes, let it come, what stays, let it stay
I walk with the stream on its own chosen way
Bridge
Upstream, downstream — it’s only a name
The river is never at odds with its aim
To bend and to borrow the shape of the land
And arrive without striving, just as it can
Final Verse (Home)
There’s rice on the stove and the moon on the rise
Steam on the window, stars in my eyes
I’ve loved, I’ve returned, I’ve nothing to prove
The Tao sets the table, I follow its move
Outro
So hush now, my heart, there’s no need to explain
The stream will keep singing tomorrow again
I am not the question, I am not the clue
I walk where I walk — and that is enough to do
