[[A slow, rolling 6/8 pattern begins from Manu Katché’s kit, a tidal, Afrobeat Liberation Rebellion pulse. Davy Spillane’s Uilleann Pipes enter, a lone cry over the water of chaos from the birth of the earth...]]
[[Verse 1 - Eddie Reader, with a clarity that holds both dawn and dust]]
The morning painted gold the strand, a cold and jeweled decree
Ten thousand fallen stars lay stranded, cut loose from out the sea
A man who counted cost and scale walked on in pensive thought
And came upon a single act that a young boy’s hand had wrought.
[[Hurdy Gurdy drones in, Patty Gurdy’s wheel turning a timeless folk melody. Gordon Giltrap’s 12-string adds a shimmering, joyful bed.]]
.....
[[Verse 2 - Eddie Reader]]]
A ceramic star of cobalt blue, held in a palm so small
The boy just paused and heard a call no other ears could hear at all
The man said, “Son, can’t you perceive the numbers on this sand?
You’ll never shift this terrible weight with your one, small, human hand.”
But the boy just winked and turned his face to the deep and waiting ocean waves so green
And he threw his starfish home again to where the waves convene
“I made a difference to that one!” his voice rang out, set free...
.....
[Pause for thought]
And the man’s soul stirred with a brand new word: “At last, I truly see!"
"And, seeing, I walk free..."
And was the starfish ceramic, or a living, breathing heart?
And was the boy just saving life, or playing a magic part?
The parable is old as time, the magic fresh as dawn
It’s in the doing, not the done, that hope is being born.
And the boy just winked and turned his face to the deep and waiting green Sea!
And threw his starfish home again to where the waves convene!
“I made a difference to that one!” his voice rang out, set free!
And the Oceans are deep
And we weep
And deep calls to deep
Before we can sleep.
Arise humanity
To steward the world you were so blessed with.
And every soul can hear that word: “At last, I truly see!"
One act of mercy, whispered, not screamed
One lonely creature, redeemed, redeemed
The scale of heaven is counted in one
(Yeah, the needs of the many do not outweigh the needs of the one)
The rising of joy with the setting of sun…
His mercies can never end or be undone...
They are new every morning!
Our pledge upon this fretboard, on every string and key
Is to magnify the glory in the one, the few, the many
To play the song of kindness, with every note we own…
For the Maker of the Starfish, and the Boy who cast it home.
