“For I must wanderOn the deep sea bedShowering pearls on dead menGathering shellsAnd sweeping the shadows of passing boatsWith my falling hairAcross the sliding sands into the mouth of hell”

“Marco Polo had seen the inhabitants of Zipangu place rose-colored pearls in the mouths of the dead. A sea-monster had been enamoured of the pearl that the diver brought to King Perozes, and had slain the thief, and mourned for seven moons over its loss.”

“Even castles made of sand,fall into the sea,eventually.”

“There are seven mermaid princesses and seven pearls. The reason I sing is to convey my love. The reason the pearl sparkels is to brighten the sea. And so, I can never forget...the sound of the waves or the warmth of the sea. ”

“At least I have the flowers of myself,and my thoughts, no godcan take that;I have the fervour of myself for a presenceand my own spirit for light;and my spirit with its lossknows this;though small against the black,small against the formless rocks,hell must break before I am lost;before I am lost,hell must open like a red rosefor the dead to pass.”

“You must reach inside yourselves where I live like a story, not old, not young laughing at my own sorrow, weeping pearls at weddings, wielding a torch to melt sand into something clear and bright.”