A night with no wind is the best night
On a night the moon hides behind cloud
I raise the black sail and row
The harbour lanterns at my back
The bow watching one star only
The navy's patrol boat is snoring
When the world sleeps, I wake
A sack of salt, a bolt of silk
And one letter with no name on it
Black sail, black sail
The sea asks no questions
Black sail, black sail
The waves do not speak
Between island and island
Down a water road only I know
Black sail, black sail
Before the dawn comes
What the country blocks, the sea connects
The road the law cut, the water mends
The scales on land tip toward the gentry
But the scales at sea tip toward nerve
I carry banned books too
What is a letter, to stake a life on —
But a scholar who came from the mainland told me
The ink does not dry
Tonight a rumour is going round the water road
That a ship went down on the northern shoal
That it was carrying government records
That the truth is sleeping under the sea
I hear it and pretend I didn't
A man who knows too much does not live long
And still my bow keeps turning north —
Let's call that the wind
Black sail, black sail
The sea asks no questions
Black sail, black sail
The waves do not speak
Between island and island
Down a water road only I know
Black sail, black sail
Before the dawn comes
The sea knows everything
It simply doesn't tell