Joanna Newsom - The divers wife
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The Amdiver is my love
and GI am his, if AmI to be deGceived
who Fmaj7takes one breath above for eve-ry
Amhour below the sea
AmWho gave to me a jewel
worth Gtwice this woman's Amlife, Gthough it cost her less
than Fmaj7laying at low tide to see
her Amtrue love phosphoresce.
And in an Cinfinite regress,
tell me Gmwhy is the pain of Dmbirth
lighter Fborne than the pain of Cdeath'
I ain't Gsaying I loved you Ffirst,
but I Cloved you Bbbest.
I Amknow we must abide
each Gby the Amrules that Gbind us here:
the Fmaj7divers and the sailors and
the Amwomen on the pier.
How Amdo you choose your voice'
How Gdo you choose your Amname' How do you choose your Glife'
How Fmaj7do you choose the time you must
exhaleAm and kick and rise'
And in an Cinfinite capsize,
like a Gmboat tearing down the Dmcoast,
double Fhulls bearing double Cmasts.
I don't Gknow if you loved me Fmost,
but you Cloved me Bblast.
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.