Autumn Leaves

It's only when the high winds blow
That I wish my hair was long
Sailing through the autumn leaves
Singing an ancient song

Or falling in love in the streets at night
At the edge of a local square
It's only that I'm here tonight
Thinking I was there

There are high winds on the pier tonight
My soul departs from me
Striding like Thalia's ghost south
On the murky sea

And into midnight's tapestry she fades
Ragged and wild
Searching down her ancestry
In the costume of a Persian child

And gulf winds bring me flying fish
That shine in the crescent moon
Show me the horizon
Where the dawn will break anew

And cool me here on this lonely pier
Where the heron are flying low
Echo the songs my father knew
In the towns of Mexico

When I was young my eyes were wise
My father was good to me
Instead of having a flock of sons
He had two other girls and me

And if we had used our Spanish names
Here's the way they'd run
Thalia, Margarita and Juanita
I'm the middle one

The screen door kept the demons in
As we moved from town to town
It's hard to be a princess in the States
When your skin is brown

And mama smoothed my worried brow
As I leaned on the kitchen door
Why do you carry the weight, she said
Of the world and maybe more?

And gulf winds bring me flying fish
That shine in the crescent moon
Show me the horizon
Where the dawn will break anew

And cool me here on this lonely pier
Where the heron are flying low
Echo the songs my father knew
In the towns of Mexico

My grandfathers were ministers
And it came on down the line
My father preached in his parents
Church when he was ten years and nine

And mama dressed in parishioner's
Clothes and didn't believe in hell
Her daddy fought the DAR
If he'd lived I'd have known him well

They said go find a Sunday School
We must have tried them all
I never stole from the silver plate
My sisters had more gall

One preacher said sing out loud and clear
It's the only life you've got
And the next one said be good on earth
You've another life at the feet of God

And gulf winds bring me flying fish
That shine in the crescent moon
Show me the horizon
Where the dawn will break anew

And cool me here on this lonely pier
Where the heron are flying low
Echo the songs my father knew
In the towns of Mexico

My father turned down many a job
Just to give us something real
It's hard to be a scientist in the States
When you've got ideals

And mama kept the budget book
She kept the garden, too
Bought fish from the man on Thursday
Fed all of us and strangers, too

But time will pass and so, alas
Will most of what we know
Though tonight my memory's eye is
Clear as the story's being told

And I'll play ball with the underdog
And sit with the child who's wrong
Be still when the earth is silent
And sing when my strength is gone

And gulf winds bring me flying fish
That shine in the crescent moon
Show me the horizon
Where the dawn will break anew

And cool me here on this lonely pier
Where the heron are flying low
Echo the songs my father knew
In the towns of Mexico

Now father's going to India
Sometime in the fall
They tried to stay together
But you just can't do it all

I'll think about him if he goes
There's a little gray in his hair
Though not much because he's Mexican
They don't age, they just prepare

And if he goes to India
I'll miss him most of all
He'll see me in the mudlarks' face
Hear me in the beggar's call

And mama will stay home, I guess
And worry if she did wrong
And I'll say a prayer for both of them
And sing them both my song

And gulf winds bring me flying fish
That shine in the crescent moon
Show me the horizon
Where the dawn will break anew

And cool me here on this lonely pier
Where the heron are flying low
Echo the songs my father knew
In the towns of Mexico