The Divers Wife

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    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.