Albatross

The lady comes to the gate dressed in lavender and leather
 Looking North to the sea she finds the weather fine
 She hears the steeple bells ringing through the orchard
 All the way from town
 She watches seagulls fly
 Silver on the ocean stitching through the waves
 The edges of the sky
 Many people wander up the hills
 From all around you
 Making up your memories and thinking they have found you
 They cover you with veils of wonder as if you were a bride
 Young men holding violets are curious to know if you have cried
 And tell you why
 And ask you why
 Any way you answer
 Lace around the collars of the blouses of the ladies
 Flowers from a Spanish friend of the family
 The embroid'ry of your life holds you in
 And keeps you out but you survive
 Imprisoned in your bones
 Behind the isinglass windows of your eyes
 And in the night the iron wheels rolling through the rain
 Down the hills through the long grass to the sea
 And in the dark the hard bells ringing with pain
 Come away alone
 Even now by the gate with you long hair blowing
 And the colors of the day that lie along your arms
 You must barter your life to make sure you are living
 And the crowd that has come
 You give them the colors
 And the bells and wind and the dream
 Will there never be a prince who rides along the sea and the mountains
 Scattering the sand and foam into amethyst fountains
 Riding up the hills from the beach in the long summer grass
 Holding the sun in his hands and shattering the isinglass?
 Day and night and day again and people come and go away forever
 While the shining summer sea dances in the glass of your mirror
 While you search the waves for love and your visions for a sign
 The knot of tears around your throat is crystallizing into your design
 And in the night the iron wheels rolling through the rain
 Down the hills through the long grass to the sea
 And in the dark the hard bells ringing with pain
 Come away alone
 Come away alone... with me.