Divers

    Am          C
The diver is my love
   G    Am      F
(& I am his, if I am not deceived),
    F                                 Am     G       Am
who takes one breath above, for every hour below the sea

    Am           C
who gave to me a jewel
      G                  Am F
worth twice this woman's life  (but would cost her less
     F
than laying at low tide,
                Am   G       Am
to see her true love phosphoresce)

      ( C )
& in an infinite regress:
         G                  Am
Tell me, why is the pain of birth
        G                      Am
lighter borne than the pain of death?
        G                       F
I ain't saying that I loved you first,
      C         Bb
but I loved you best

  Am            C
I know we must abide
     G      Am         F
each by the rules that bind us here:
    F                            Am    G      Am
the divers, & the sailors, & the women on the pier

        Am                 C
But how do you choose your form?
    G                  Am F
How do you choose your name? How do you choose your life?
                                    Am
How do you choose the time you must exhale,
  G       Am
& kick, & writhe?

        C
& in an infinite capsize:
       G                     Am
Like a bull tearing down the coast,
       G                    Am
double hulls bearing double masts—
        G                    F             C        Bb
I don't know if you loved me most, but you loved me last


  Am                C
Recall the word you gave:
   G          Am        F
to count your way across the depths of this arid world,
      F
where you would yoke the waves,
          Am     G       Am
and lay a bed of shining pearls!

  Am             C
I dream it every night:
    G       Am         F
the ringing of the pail,
  ( F )
the motes of sand dislodged,
  ( F )
the shucking, quick & bright;
  ( F )                                Am     G        Am
the twinned & cast-off shells reveal a single heart of white

      ( C )
& in an infinite backslide:
        G                     Am
Ancient border, sink past the West,
       G                     Am
like a sword at the bearer's fall
        G                     F
I can't claim that I knew you best,
            C          Bb
but did you know me at all?

  Am       C
A woman is alive!
  G         Am F
A woman is ali-ve;
( F )                            ( F )
you do not take her for a sign  in nacre on a stone,
         Am  G     Am
alone, unfaceted & fine

  Am           C
& never will I wed
     G                 Am  F
I'll hunt the pearl of death to the bottom of my life,
( F )
& ever hold my breath,
           Am     G       Am
'til I may be the diver's wife

          ( C )
See how the infinite divides:
      G                 Am
& the divers are not to blame
        G                      Am
for the rift, spanning distant shores
 G                F
You don't know my name,
    C      Bb
but I know yours