I have wondered at the way of things For minutes in infinity Since first I saw you Passing through my mirror How I always find my way Into the wrong place, At the wrong time, waiting For a knight who shines above my fears And I wonder at the way I’ll go Since now I’ve watched you passing Over rivers where I cannot follow And so many of the colors from My tapestry went running free And what was whole an hour ago Seems hollow How can it be you sang to me But never raised your eyes And rode away unchanged As in my room I came alive? If I could only know that you Felt something of this magic, too, I’d make a lover’s lifetime of today But I don’t know who you are at all And you’ll never look inside these walls And I don’t need a lifetime anyway. If I could weave a banner for you Hang it from the highest wall And sing your name Into the silver dawn – I could no more bring you back to me Than I could climb the starry sea To touch the one I always wish upon And you would have no patience For the silly dreams of silly things Who cry and sing And live alone in towers I tell myself, to spare my heart That you are cruel and cannot love But in my dreams You always bring me flowers. How can it be you sang to me But never raised your eyes And rode away unchanged As in my room I came alive? If I could only know that you Felt something of this magic, too, I’d make a lover’s lifetime of today But I don’t know who you are at all And you’ll never look inside these walls And I don’t need a lifetime anyway, Not today.

I come to you On bended knee Be still, my heart, At what my eyes have seen To stay or go, to speak Or silently adore; Yours is the wish I must complete. To live or die; to show That nothing matters more, I lay my life down at your feet Here I stand, your paladin, your champion, your love Awaiting your desire To turn away if you should ask Or else go steady by your side Into the fiercest fire And when I grow too old To hold my sword aloft Then I will bear your banner in my arms For that is what I swore I'd do, forevermore, The day I tied your colors to my heart Here I stand, your paladin, your champion, your love, Awaiting your desire To turn away if you should ask Or else go steady by your side Into the fiercest fire And when I grow too old To hold your banner high, Then let me stay awhile, and I’ll sing for you So when my breath has ceased And all the songbirds call You will recall the one who loved you true Here I am, your paladin, your champion, your love, Awaiting your desire To turn away if you should ask Or go forever by your side Into the fiercest fire To turn away if you should ask Or else go steady by your side Into the fiercest fire

There came a young man to the tourney field And brightly shone the colors on his shield And brightly flew his banner in the sky A stranger with a glory in his eyes With a bearing that recalled some prince of yore He fought as none had ever seen before “Who do you ride for?” the ladies cried to know And he replied, with his lance bowed to the throne: Have you seen the rose upon my banner? There is stitched the fairest flower I know. She is my queen, and my only queen, forever, And while I fight, I fight for her alone. There was a king who ruled a distant land And mighty was the scepter in his hand Such legends of this warrior he had heard And mighty was the thunder of his words, Saying, “Lord, I must bestow what you deserve. Come kneel before my throne, and pledge to serve And rise a knight: my finest of them all.” But he replied, in a voice so low and calm: Have you seen the rose upon my banner? My life is not mine to command, For my queen is my only queen forever, And hers my heart, though you may wield my hand. There stood an old man on a battlefield And lonely were the colors on his shield And lonely was his banner in the sky When came another soldier passing by, Saying, “Master, you are weary, you are tired And far and wide your name is well admired. Why do you fight? There is nothing for you here.” But he replied, in a voice so soft and clear: Have you seen the rose upon my banner? There is stitched a long-forgotten name. She was my queen, and my only queen, forever, And while I live, her rose shall never fade. She is my queen, and my only queen, forever, And while I live, her rose shall never fade.

Bright against the autumn skies upon a green and stony rise a nimble knight is mounted on a steed of wire and slate no fear of falling knows him The court of clouds and poets chose him for that sheer, mad bravery that oversees his fate The waltzer greets the gallery Of grey geese down below Then bows and turns to serenade The flowers row on row meticulously moving there a maiden fair envisioning in this hour the air is gold and dusted deep with memory He dances with a lady while the brindled hound beside him Recalls the scent of tulips scarcely faded with the seasons

The first time I saw you was by the deep well Waking the waters within Stirring them full of your songs and your spells, And waking my heart as you did. Rarer than moonrise at morning were you, Cornflower stars in your eyes, Soft lashes laden with bright midnight dew And all of my soul in your sigh. A charm, a snare, a cantrip, Binds me at your will, Strong is the sorcerer But love, she is stronger still. I've counted the worlds that spread under your feet, And the lights of your soul I have traced, And I've searched in the fog for the answers I seek, But your secrets are hidden away. And yet when you plied after secrets from me, Seeking the path of the great, Blinded by beauty, I gave you the truth, And sealed myself into my fate. A charm, a snare, a cantrip Set me for the fall; Wise is the sorcerer, But love, she makes fools of all. The last time I saw you, your laughter was dark And cut like a stone-sharpened sword, Striking the walls of the prison you built Where I am to die of your scorn. And yet as you leave me adrift in my tears, Trailing the stars at your feet, I know all your betrayals would melt from my eyes If you lay your hand on my cheek. A charm, a snare, a cantrip, Asunder tears my heart, And half longs to hate you But love has the better part. So all I recall of your fae-glamoured face Shines with the love of a child, And that is the look I will take to my grave As I'm clutching the ghost of your smile.

The night she is blue as the candles that you Hide behind your eyes, peacefully sleeping, And the candles that died hours ago at the bedside Were likewise too brief for my keeping But the moon is alive, and the stars she has cried Light your face with the trails of her weeping. Not for all the gold and riches in the world, my love Would I leave you ere the rising of the morning sun For the dawn will hurry in to carry me away But it's in your arms another hour I fain would lay For grim is the road, and uncaring the load I will bear when the sun takes me riding Many miles and more, too far from your door Where the warmth of your love is abiding And if heaven were mine, I would drive away time Just to stay here and hold you beside me Not for all the gold and riches I have ever known Would I leave you if the choice were mine to stay or go And the dawn would never come at all, had I my way, For it's in the shelter of your arms I fain would stay But the first leaves of light chase the shadows of night From your face as the morning comes calling And you wake with a kiss and a whisper That carries me on whither I must be going But I swear by my soul I could never be whole Without you to await my returning. And some other night will bring me swiftly to your arms again Will there ever be a night that brings me home and has no end? When the sun will rise and find us sleeping through the early light, And no dawn that ever comes again will take me from your side? The night she is blue as the candles that you Hide behind your eyes, peacefully sleeping, But the moon is alive, and the stars in the sky Light your face with the look of my dreaming.

Another day gone and the sun moves along On its way to a dance with the moon I turn from my window, I don't want to see And I'm tired of being alone But all of the dreams that I carried When I was too young to be wise Come rushing to find me, and settle inside me And I'm still in love with the lies Bring me my rider All on a white steed Catching the wild wind Under his feet Bring me my own love True as the morning Never to fade out Never to leave I've written letters, a million or more But my birds never know where to fly And I'd build a ship I could sail on my tears But the rivers, they all have run dry So tonight I will stand on the hillside And sing with my heart in my hands And if he's somewhere near me Then maybe he'll hear me And spur to the sound till he stands High on the hilltop All on a white steed Catching the wild wind Under his feet Bringing my own love True as the morning Never to fade away Never to leave Another day gone, and the sun moves along On his way to a dance with the moon The wind lets himself through the window, and sighs When he finds me alone in the room And a star comes to fall in the evening And it shines like I picture his eyes So I wish on its light For an end to this night And the dawn on the distant horizon Bring me my rider All on a white steed Catching the wild wind Under his feet Bring me my own love True as the morning Never to fade out Never to leave

Scarlet rose and silver thorn Grow around the tower where she was born Creeping up the sunlit walls Shadowing the lonely halls And covering the solitary door And it's there a home she keeps Held in thrall by spell and sorcery She will never taste the sun Or wander where the waters run Until her true love comes to set her free Through a thousand other heroes Past an endless, faceless wall She is watching through the window For the only face that matters at all. Now and then he hears her name Now and then he wonders what she'd say Then he laughs so hard it hurts-- Dreaming only makes it worse-- He wouldn't have the courage, anyway Just another night alone In a dirty tavern by the road He drains a drink to drown the tears, And thinks of all the wasted years Since last he had a story of his own And he doesn't even know And he's never been a hero No, he's never been a hero Anywhere to anyone But her So he wanders home And he sits alone And he dreams of all the feats That other men do And she waits for him to come 'Til the candlelight burns low And every night she says, "Perhaps tomorrow." Just another night apart Just another pair of lonely hearts Praying for the day to come And the strength to be in love Waiting for some kind of life to start And you never even know When she's waiting by the window That it's your name she is whispering That you've always been her hero And she will never taste the sun Or wander where the waters run Until her true love comes To set her free.