Townes Van Zandt, “Quicksilver Daydreams (Of Maria)”

photo by Al Clayton

Well, the diamond fades quickly
When matched to the face of Maria
All the harps they sound empty
When she lifts her lips to the sky
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

Well, she stands all around me
Her hands slowly sifting 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
And caresses the south wind
And silently sails to the sea

Ah, the sculptor stands stricken
The artist he throws down his brushes
When her image comes dancin’
The sun she turns sullen with shame
And the birds they go silent
The wind stops his sad mournful singing
When the trees of the forest
Start gently to whisperin her name

So as softly she wanders
I’ll desperately follow her footsteps
And I’ll chase after shadows
That offer a trace of her sight
Ah, they promise eternally
That she lays hidden within them
But I find they’ve deceived me
And sadly I bid them goodbye

So the serpent slides softly
Away with these 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