I know where oysters lie a poem for voice by Sarah Jane Moore

I know why the caged bird sings

I know where oysters lie

I know where the cold wind blows

The stories they survived

Ripped and stripped they sailed on ships

Dug out reefs every tide

lined with mortar stuck in stones

The colony did rise.

Oyster Bed, Oyster Bed

Hacked and split and left for dead

Oyster Bed, Oyster Bed

Broken shell and clans not fed

In ancient times the birds flew free

ancestral wings did glide

oysters spawned on milky dawns

and moon bird wings were wide

squid on hooks, disrupted nooks

feathers they did fly

culture, water, wind and song

two stories did collide.

Oyster Bed, Oyster Bed

Hacked and split and left for dead

Oyster Bed, Oyster Bed

Broken shell and clans not fed

Claiming Country

Sea Birds Fled.

Chaos on Country.

Sea

Birds

Fled.