Manticore's Lullabye

May your dreams be all of sun
And heated sand, and sky
When you wake may all your singing
Help your heart to fly

May you never be closed in an amber cage
With an amber lock and key
May you roar and sing beneath the sun
And the shade of the upas tree

Bear your tiny teeth, my child
The sun will fall in love with you
And teach you how to sting and roar
And sing and kill, as fathers do.

Turn your prayer to sky and sand
Nomatter where you fall
May the desert echoes teach you
All their secret songs

My amber cage had an amber lock
And the girl had an amber key
And a manticore was bound and sore
In the city in the trees.

My amber cage had an amber lock
And the good girl a key of her own
She set me free with a shining smile
And far from all cages we roam

May the desert echoes hold you
In their ruddy paws
May your prayer be heard by sky and sand
Nomatter where you fall

May you never be closed in an amber cage
With an amber lock and key
May you roar and sing beneath the sun
And the shade of the upas tree