Le rossignol

When the sinking sun
Has been erased
And shadows melt into the night
This is the hour of woken memories
Regrets turn into ghosts
A thousand years of tears
To fill the empty hole
The color blue

Undone by the cold
But still awake
I remember once in silence
The sword which sliced the darkness
The melody of courage
The song reserved for men
Te souviens-tu quand elle chantait

She should have been sad
But unlike the banished queen
She wore a crown
A restless soul
Wise and cunning
Her chorus flowed
Like water from a spring
On parched soil

Singing like a requiem choir
The never-ending song
Like the morning star’s light
To be forgotten again
Drowned in the warmth of dawn

Do you remember
When death waited reverently
For the final reprise
A holy silence
The song’s surprise
You held your breath
And closed your eyes
When everyone cried
The nightingale’s song

Singing like a requiem choir
The never-ending song
Like the morning star’s light
To be forgotten again
Drowned at dawn

– Voltaire

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— Charles Voltaire