The Divers Wife

	  		

    Am 
The diver is my love 
    G            Am        G 
and I am his, if I to be deceived 
    Fmaj7 
who takes one breath above for eve-ry 
Am 
hour below the sea 

Am 
Who gave to me a jewel 
      G                  Am    G    
worth twice this woman's life, though it cost her less 
     Fmaj7 
than laying at low tide to see  
    Am 
her true love phosphoresce. 

          C 
And in an infinite regress, 
        Gm                 Dm 
tell me why is the pain of birth 
        F                      C 
lighter borne than the pain of death? 

        G                  F 
I ain't saying I loved you first, 
      C         Bb 
but I loved you best. 

  Am 
I know we must abide 
     G      Am         G   
each by the rules that bind us here: 
    Fmaj7 
the divers and the sailors and  
    Am 
the women on the pier. 

    Am  
How do you choose your voice? 
    G                  Am                           G                                        
How do you choose your name? How do you choose your life? 
    Fmaj7 
How do you choose the time you must 
      Am 
exhale and kick and rise? 

          C 
And in an infinite capsize, 
       Gm                    Dm       
like a boat tearing down the coast, 
       F                    C 
double hulls bearing double masts. 
        G                    F 
I don't know if you loved me most, 
        C        Bb 
but you loved me last. 

Recall the word you gave 
to count your way across the depths of this arid world, 
where you will yoke the waves that lay  
a bed of shining pearls. 

I dream it every night: 
the ringing of the pail, the motes of sand dislodged, the shucking, quick and bright 
the twinned and cast off shells reveal  
a single heart of white. 

And in an infinite backslide, 
ancient boulders sink past the west, 
like a sword at the bearer's fall. 
I don't say that I knew you best, 
but did you know me at all? 

A woman is alive, a woman is  
alive. You do not take her from your side 
An anchor on a stone, alone,  
unfaceted and fine. 

And never will I wed. 
I'll hunt the pearl of death to the bottom of my life, 
and ever hold my breath 'til I may be the diver's wife. 

See how the infinite divides, 
and the divers are not to blame 
for the rift spanning distant shores. 
You don't know my name, 
but I know yours.