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Gypsy-Eyed Maid
Why should I trust you, oh gyspsy-eyed maid?
with stars on your scarf, and twigs in your braid.
she told me she'd waved to the kings of the world
from ships made of crystal and diamond and opal
and threw down the anchor to swim with the mermaids
watched the sun flash as it passed the horizon
shook off her sorrows like snow in the mountains
gazed in the eyes of ten thousand orphans
to let them know love still exists in this world,
'And it's cold outside',
'and your house looked so warm'
Why should I follow you, gypsy-eyed maid?
with a cloak made of silk and a necklace of jade.
she told me she'd take me to Emerald Forest
and stand on the cliffs above Sapphire Lake
down all the trails along the old river
tracking down treasures of days left forgotten
then to the fort tucked deep in the trees
hidden far from the trail, to brew up some tea
from apathy spices and mystical roots
lay beneath stars, far away from the streetlights
to tell me that love is a fool's foundation,
'but it's lonely outside',
'and your eyes looked the same'
Why should I leave with you, gypsy-eyed maid?
when all of my wishes are bought for and paid.
she told me that money was a game for the poor folk
and rich folk don't carry their wealth in their pockets
and society's twisted and withered and warped
but none of that matters when freedom is free
and politics can't find its way in the mountains
where laws are at leisure and love is what matters
where living your life won't coat you with labels
where we can sip wine and just go with the music
and lay by the fire with rain in our hair,
'and the world is fading',
'so make up your own or fade with it'
Why should I love you, oh gyspy-eyed maid?
when all my affections have only betrayed.
she told me that I must be due for a triumph
and that friendship is to love as mist is to water
and sometimes a chance is the best you can hope for
then she threw up her hands and said 'why should it matter?
love me or like me or shun me or hate me
as long as you know me I'll know that I'm fine
to keep my head high and my toes pointed west
to stick to my guns and always do my best
to venture down trails and old broken roads
to live without care for the words said against me
and never think twice on the scars in my mind
'cause there's light to be found,
and she said she knows where to find it
Oh, why are you leaving, my gypsy-eyed maid?
please tell me truely if your mind has been swayed.
she said maybe we lingered too long over nothing
or that maybe we died in the night without knowing
and that victory is never as sweet as you dreamt it
without all the friends that you gave up to get it
and if I could repeat it I wouldn't change nuthin'
so please don't think less for my need to keep movin'
but infinity calls and I cannot deny it
calling me westward in days and in dreams
and that some people's spirits are allergic to stillness
and there are those who would stare like you're struck with an illness
and some who would mimic for the sake of their sins
and whole cities that wish you would just move along
'but the world is vast and wondrous',
'and there's no time to waste being stranded'
