Of all of Kiri Ito's joys, the thing she loved the best  Was to play her prized piano when the sun had gone to rest  I used to hear the notes drift down along the silent water  As Kiri played the notes and scales for her dear sons and daughters  Now me I played piano though not as good as Kiri  She went in for that long haired stuff but my she played it pretty  The old piano had a tone would set my heart to aching  It always sounded sweetest though when it was Kiri playing  In December when the seventh fleet was turned to smoke and ashes  The order came to confiscate their fishing boats and caches  And Kiri's husband forced to go and work in labour camps  And Kiri left alone to fend and hold the fort as best she can  But the music did not drift as often from up the cove at Kiri's house  And when it did it sounded haunted played with worry played with doubt  For Kiri knew that soon she too would be compelled to leave  And the old upright would stay behind and Kiri she would grieve  I loaded Kiri on the bus with stoic internees  The crime that they were guilty of was that they were not like me  And if I was ashamed I didn't know it at the time  They were flotsam on the wave of war they were no friends of mine  I went up to Kiri's house to tag all their belongings  And set them out for auctioneers who'd claim them in the morning  One piece that I thought I'd keep and hold back for myself  Was that haunting ivory upright that Kiri played so well  But Kiri had not left it there for me to take as plunder  She'd rolled it down onto the dock and on into the harbor  That old upright in strangers' hands was a thought she couldn't bear  So she consigned it to the sea to settle the affair  So many years have come and gone since Kiri's relocation  I look back now upon that time with shame and resignation  For Kiri knew what I did not that if we must be free  Then sometimes we must sacrifice to gain our dignity  Yes Kiri knew what I did not that if we must be free  Then sometimes we must sacrifice to gain our dignity