Something came up
A jar
Five hundred years, and what came up
These are the names that came up out of the sea
What the water kept for ten years
The state's seal is stamped on them
These are the men who bought false testimony
Those names were inside the salt
And today one hand comes
The seal is still whole
Nobody opened it
Five hundred years and nobody opened it
The seal is still whole
It came out of the ground
There is salt in the jar
Salt does not spoil
And what was inside it did not spoil
No house, no kitchen — but the place remained
Fire burned
And salt preserved
The seal is still whole
Nobody opened it
Five hundred years and nobody opened it
The seal is still whole
And then that person's hand went to the paper
I watched that hand
A gloved hand
Five hundred years ago a hand stopped here too
That hand came out empty
And that was right
Today is different
This paper will not kill anyone now
Now it can be read
Have we learned nothing
There was a king of twelve years old
His uncle took the child away
Six said no and died
Six did not die — they walked out
And we still know all twelve of them
Dying is not the only refusal
Dying is not the only refusal
Dying is not the only refusal
We remember the six who died
We remember the six who walked out
Nobody has forgotten them
Not forgetting is also a refusal
Waiting is also a refusal
That woman said
These names are already too late
But I will not lose them
And what will you do, they asked
Nothing
Only I will leave them behind
Until when, they asked
Until there is someone left to ask
The hand opened
The paper was there
They read it
Dying is not the only refusal
Dying is not the only refusal
Dying is not the only refusal
Iron remembered
And a person wrote
And salt preserved
The seal is opened
Today it is finally opened
Snow is falling
The ink did not freeze
Five hundred years and it did not freeze