(Quicksilver Daydreams Of) Maria

Well, a diamond fades quickly when matched to the face of Maria

All the harps they sound empty when she lifts her lips to the sky

Ah the brown of her skin makes her hair seem a soft golden rainfall

that spills from the mountains to the bottomless depths of her eyes

She stands all around me her hands slowly siftin' the sunshine

All the laughter that lingers down deep 'neath her smilin' is free

Well, it spins and it twirls like a hummingbird lost in the morning

then caresses the south wind and silently sails to the sea

As softly she wanders I'll desperately follow her footsteps

I chase after shadows that offer a trace of her sigh

They promise eternally that she lies hidden within them

but I find they've decieved me and sadly I bid them goodbye

So the serpent slides slowly away with his moments of laughter

and the old washer-woman has finished her cleanin' and gone

but the bamboo hangs heavy in the bondage of quicksilver daydreams

and a lonely child longingly looks for a place to belong