|
alone, unfaceted and fine. |
| [00:30.91] |
A diver is my love |
| [00:38.23] |
(and I am his, if I am not deceived) |
| [00:51.65] |
who takes one breath above, for every hour below the sea; |
| [01:02.79] |
who gave to me a jewel |
| [01:10.19] |
worth twice this woman's life (but would cost her less |
| [01:23.69] |
than laying at low tide, |
| [01:27.22] |
to see her true love phosphoresce). |
| [01:34.52] |
And in an infinite regress: |
| [01:38.28] |
Tell me, why is the pain of birth |
| [01:46.25] |
lighter borne than the pain of death? |
| [01:59.49] |
I ain't saying that I loved you first, |
| [02:01.92] |
but I loved you best. |
| [02:08.32] |
I know we must abide |
| [02:15.72] |
each by the rules that bind us here: |
| [02:29.47] |
the divers, and the sailors, and the women on the pier. |
| [02:41.01] |
But how do you choose your form? |
| [02:48.77] |
How do you choose your name? |
| [02:55.92] |
How do you choose your life? |
| [03:02.39] |
How do you choose the time you must exhale and kick, and rise? |
| [03:13.96] |
And in an infinite capsize: |
| [03:17.10] |
Like a bull tearing down the coast, |
| [03:25.35] |
double hulls bearing double masts– |
| [03:32.48] |
I don't know if you loved me most, |
| [03:40.91] |
but you loved me last. |
| [03:47.36] |
Recall the word you gave: |
| [03:54.06] |
to count your way across the depths of this arid world, |
| [04:07.01] |
where you would yoke the waves, |
| [04:10.53] |
and lay a bed of shining pearls! |
| [04:17.75] |
I dream it every night: |
| [04:24.90] |
the ringing of the pail, |
| [04:31.52] |
the motes of sand dislodged, |
| [04:34.67] |
the shucking, quick and bright; |
| [04:37.83] |
the twinned and cast-off shell reveal a single heart of white. |
| [04:48.34] |
And in an infinite backslide: |
| [04:52.42] |
Ancient border, sink past the West, |
| [04:59.77] |
like a sword at the bearer's fall. |
| [05:07.05] |
I can't claim that I knew you best, |
| [05:15.38] |
but did you know me at all? |
| [05:22.03] |
A woman is alive! |
| [05:28.94] |
A woman is alive; |
| [05:35.32] |
you do not take her for a sign |
| [05:41.21] |
in nacre on a stone, |
| [05:52.62] |
And never will I wed. |
| [06:00.13] |
I'll hunt the pearl of death to the bottom of my life, |
| [06:13.37] |
and ever hold my breath, |
| [06:16.88] |
till I may be the diver's wife. |
| [06:24.25] |
See how the infinite divides |
| [06:28.42] |
and the divers are not to blame |
| [06:36.20] |
for the rift, spanning distant shores. |
| [06:43.22] |
You don't know my name, |
| [06:51.75] |
But I know yours. |
