In the village in the village in the village
Life repeats itself.
There is sunlight; there is darkness. The dark
repeats itself, the light repeats itself;
planting repeats itself, harvest repeats itself.
Yet life is never dull.
It pats the drum-hide of the night and is satisfied.
It listens for footfalls when the dogs bark
in the village in the village in the village
In the village in the village in the village
life repeats itself, life undoes itself
and then does itself up in the same guise.
We are careful not to fail to repeat
the same salutations, the same farewells
our parents and our parents' parents use.
They are wise; we are small and the day long.
Death comes but once but when it comes to life
no one would be unwilling to repeat
in the village in the village in the village
Andrew Oerke