WRITE 28 DAYS: Have Heaven :: DAY 1

I’ve long loved Irish singer and songwriter Enya’s song, “China Roses,” published on the CD The Memory Of Trees in 1995:

China Roses

Who can tell me if we have heaven,
Who can say the way it should be;
Moonlight holly, the Sappho Comet,
Angel’s tears below a tree.

You talk of the break of morning
As you view the new aurora,
Cloud in crimson, the key of heaven,
One love carved in acajou.

One told me of China Roses,
One a thousand nights and one night,
Earth’s last picture, the end of evening:
Hue of indigo and blue.

A new moon leads me to
Woods of dreams and I follow.
A new world waits for me;
My dream, my way.

I know that if I have heaven
There is nothing to desire.
Rain and river, a world of wonder
May be paradise to me.

Enya (born Eithne Ni Bhraonain) wrote the music and arranged it with Nicky Ryan, whose wife Roma Ryan wrote the lyrics.

Through the month of February, as part of the Write 28 Days Challenge, I want to follow some of the song’s themes and motifs: heaven (paradise, treasure, perfection, etc), possessing heaven, the key of heaven, authorities and sources for our concepts/experiences of heaven, the plants and other natural phenomena the song mentions (including China roses and the moon), my world of wonder, the connection between perfection and desire, woods of dreams, Earth’s last picture, evening and the end of evening, sunrise, and so on.

All postings will be linked from this page as they are posted:

Day 1: Introduction (this page)
Day 2: Yes That Never Ends
Day 3: After Life
Day 4: China Roses
Day 5: The Moon & Comets
Day 6: Dawn
Day 7: The Memory of Trees
Day 8: The Key of Heaven, Eyes on the Ground
Day 9: Fairy Tales
Day 10: Earth’s Last Picture
Day 11: The Gloaming
Day 12: Moonless Night
Day 13: Dream Woods
Day 14: Rain, River
Day 15: Love Greets You
Day 16: Heaven-Dripped Stars
Day 17: Relax
Day 18: Perfect Moment
Day 19: Disenchantment
Day 20: Anticipation
Day 21: Unbound
Day 22: Where, Then, Is Paradise?
Day 23: The Heaven (and Hell) of Changeability
Day 24: Little Fishing Village Where There Are No Phones
Day 25: Enclosed/Paradise
Day 26: Reality Itself
Day 27: Here, Everywhere Heaven
Day 28: May Be Paradise To Me