Morla

The Song of
Morla's Belly

The sudden flushing of several marsh hens alerted her that she was not alone. Ceasing her own song, she heard it faintly echoing back to her from out beyond the reeds in words of an old marsh tongue. Her own clan had not spoken that language for generations, but she knew most of the words from the folk she had met in her wanderings.

Dark waters, deep, slow,
secret paths among the reeds;
dark paths where none may go
who know not where the water leads . . .

Then I laughed, danced and sang,
when I dwelt with tribe and clan;
now dark waters are my home,
because I went where currents ran . . .