Burial At Sea

Richard died away from England

away from the white shore and the standing stones

and where they spoke in words he had forgotten

Richard died of rot

not bleeding but rotting

and blessed and pardoned as he died

Frederick Barbarossa died in water

in water and not upon the earth

nor raised aloft in air

but in water that bore him under

that bore him away

Kaiser Rotbart

er liegt unter Wasser

er schläft unter Berg

Burial at sea

in the shifting deep

where no tracks are made

and no stones declare

the name and the deeds of the buried man

Burial at sea

under the sign of exodus

and the sign of resurrection

Men forget their fathers

and men forget their homes

but the sea remembers

all her dead