Lowering the Sail

Three days and we reach the capital
Load the rice and put out again
That was the kind of morning it was

Anchored in the harbour, the tide was wrong
Two sacks of rice, one barrel of water, that was all we needed
Inside my coat, a soaked ledger
Holding names the sea had kept for ten years
I am a sailor, so I did a sailor's work
Haggling over a price, counting the load
And then, at the far end of the dock, people gathered
The way they gathered was not good

I lower the sail, I lower the sail
Even with a wind, I lower it
I lower the sail, I lower the sail
Today the north is calling me

They said the north had been breached
They said the Jurchen had crossed the river
They said three fortresses had fallen in three days
They said refugees were already over the pass
And there was one more thing they said
They said the state was pardoning its criminals
That any man who could fight would not be asked about his past
That the men who spent their lives running were being called now

I lower the sail, I lower the sail
Even with a wind, I lower it
I lower the sail, I lower the sail
Today the north is calling me

The scholar asked, what do we do with this writing
I did not think long about the answer
This writing has waited ten years
What has waited ten years can wait one more day
But the people coming over that pass
Cannot wait for tonight
The scholar said nothing
The old fisherman said nothing either
That was the last time I saw the two of them

I untied the halyard
The white sail came down slowly
The sail I had kept dyed black all my life
The sail I had raised white to be seen
Today I simply fold it
I leave the boat behind
The north is a place you walk to

I lower the sail, I lower the sail
Even with a wind, I lower it
I lower the sail, I lower the sail
Though the brush breaks, the ink does not dry
Ink knows how to wait
People cannot wait

From the dock I turned up the northern road
I lived my whole life on water
And my feet on the ground felt strange
I walked anyway