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 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 linger 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
Ah, the sculptor stands stricken and the artist he throws away 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 whisper'in 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 sigh Ah, 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 slide softly away with his moments of laughter And the the old washer-woman has finishe her cleanin' and gone But the bamboo hang heavy in the bondage of quicksilver daydreams And a lonely child longingly looks for a place to belong