Epaminondas Trimis - Play the Earth Lyrics

The elders teach that sound proceeds
From silence; yet silence yields
To listening. Hiding in quietness
Leaves speak. Small creatures underfoot
Pause, then drum their small tattoo
Where is the voice of the rock?
What are the songs of wooden things?
Let me join in the harmony
Of the hundred kingdoms
And play the earth.
A lone drummer crouches
Over the ashes of the pit
Pounding stakes, one, two
Stretching a skin
Over the navel of the earth
With the first drumbeat he knows
That he does not play alone
Breeze carries the sound
Without, within, awaking
The multitudes