Stay, said the bird, stay, stay
As the summer midnight passes
And the rosy dawn is fingering the
Eastern sky
Enjoy the day

And the dew on the spider's web
And the dappled light under oak and ash
Why leave the ocean's swell and the seaweed shore
And the whitespread gull, the limpet shell

The thin, heady air of the mountain peak
And the stream that swells to a river's spate
And a garden, walled, with the scent of thyme
And the furrowed field where the foxes lie?

Guide me, orion
Lead me, orion
For you are the bright stalking hunter
And your power I obey
Protect me, orion

Remember friends and loves and familiar scenes
And the sad sweet echoes of another time
And the scents and sounds of a childhood gone
Stay, said the bird, oh stay
This is the scale for your leaping dream
Here is your life and your resting place

Then the wood fell quiet and into the sky
A new bird rose with a plume of fire

Guide me, orion
Lead me, orion
For you are the bright stalking hunter
And your power I obey
Protect me, orion
Orion!

Guide me, orion
Lead me, orion
Guide me, orion
Lead me, orion
Guide me, orion
Lead me, orion