Night Comes On

I went down to the place Where I knew she lay waiting Under the marble and the snow I said, mother Im frightened The thunder and the lightning Ill never come through this alone She said, Ill be with you My shawl wrapped around you My hand on your head when you go And the night came on It was very calm I wanted the night to go on and on But she said, go back to the world We were fighting in egypt When they signed this agreement That nobody else had to die There was this terrible sound And my father went down With a terrible wound in his side He said, try to go on Take my books, take my gun Remember, my son, how they lied And the night comes on Its very calm Id like to pretend that my father was wrong But you dont want to lie, not to the young We were locked in this kitchen I took to religion And I wondered how long she would stay I needed so much To have nothing to touch Ive always been greedy that way But my son and my daughter Climbed out of the water Crying, papa, you promised to play And they lead me away To the great surprise Its papa, dont peek, papa, cover your eyes And they hide, they hide in the world Now I look for her always Im lost in this calling Im tied to the threads of some prayer Saying, when will she summon me When will she come to me What must I do to prepare When she bends to my longing Like a willow, like a fountain She stands in the luminous air And the night comes on And its very calm I lie in her arms and says, when Im gone Ill be yours, yours for a song Now the crickets are singing The vesper bells ringing The cats curled asleep in his chair Ill go down to bills bar I can make it that far And Ill see if my friends are still there Yes, and heres to the few Who forgive what you do And the fewer who dont even care And the night comes on Its very calm I want to cross over, I want to go home But she says, go back, go back to the world