Flowers on the Other Shore
The Buddha says red spider lilies bloom a thousand years wither a thousand years
Blossom and leaf never meet in the same sphere
Love follows no cause fate shapes eternity
The cold Forgetfulness stream reflects gowns I once wore
Scarlet robes soaked deep in blood of lifetimes before
The next-life vow you gave on the stone I engraved
By Naihe Bridge at dusk even the wind holds grief
Long is the Yellow Spring path no moonlight to light the way
Lotus blooms under steps old blood marks every stone
Flowers rise with no leaves leaves come when blooms withdraw
Cycle after cycle apart whose longing outlasts all
Red lilies bloom on the far shore
Blooms miss their leaves leaves miss blooms forevermore
I crossed the stream to stay close by your side
Yet you drank Meng Po's brew to wash our memories dry
Red lilies drift on Forgetfulness tides
Flames light Three-Way Shores where reincarnation hides
Though mortal worlds divide us on every single side
I will guard our bond till the end of time
I carved your name upon the bridge stone
The river keeps the words I once wrote
But the brew you drank has washed your heart clean
Now I stand here a ghost you can't perceive
You plucked one bloom and pinned it into my hair
Said crimson red would suit my bridal wear
Now I stand right where we once used to share
You stride straight past me without one backward stare
The vows we made have faded with the stream
The flowers bloom but never in a dream
I reach for you but shadows take your face
Lost in endless space
Red lilies bloom on the far shore
Blooms miss their leaves leaves miss blooms forevermore
I crossed the stream to stay close by your side
Yet you drank Meng Po's brew to wash our memories dry
Red lilies drift on Forgetfulness tides
Flames light Three-Way Shores where reincarnation hides
Though mortal worlds divide us on every single side
I will hold our vow beyond the end of time
You say rise and fall of fate is a hollow dream
I swear every lifetime my devotion stays true
If blooms and leaves can never grow on one bough
I will turn into dust beneath your footsteps now
Red lilies glow like old wounds upon the land
They bloom a thousand years waiting for your glance
I do not chase forever across distant lands
Only beg you will remember who I am
Red lilies rest in blood-red dusk
No shore waits beyond the bank the stream keeps trust
If someday you wander down this forgotten track
Please call my name when you look back
Red lilies drift on Forgetfulness tides
Flames light Three-Way Shores where reincarnation hides
Though mortal worlds divide us on every single side
I will guard our bond till the end of time
Blooms open leaves fall the cycle spins again