Sad Waters

Down the road I look and there runs Mary



Hair of gold and lips like cherries



We go down to the river where the willows weep



Take a naked root for a lovers seat



That rose out of the bitten soil



Sound to the ground by creeping ivy coils



O Mary you have seduced my soul



Forever a hostage of your child's world



And then I ran my tin-cup heart along, the prison of her ribs



And then with a toss of her curls that little girl goes wading in



Rollin' her dress up past her knee



Turning these waters into wine, then she platted all the willow vines



Mary in the shallows laughing



Over where the carp dart



Spooked by the new shadows that she cast



Across these sad waters and across my heart