Will Cookson - The Garden

Falling asleep under an apple tree
my thoughts fly away over the southern seas
as the shadow of the church tower dims
to the murmur of the evening hymns

In another land the princess in her castle dreams
of all the other things that once upon a time she could have been
she sends a prayer to the distant stars
puts her forehead on the window bars

And a sliver of the moon lies sleeping on the dew
as winter waits for the summer nights to darken
and the ancient fountain fills from silver-threaded rills
as the owl cries echo in the garden

Shadows on the lawn dancing as the night wind blows
now the revellers have gone leaving us to waltz alone
through the hallways of elusive dream
until the morning takes you from me

But now the sun is in the air and there’s humming everywhere
in the meadow grass that soon the frost will harden
and though the world’s left you behind I’ve kept you in my mind
as I lie here with the statues in your garden

And the dawn is only a few hours away
and when I’m gone the memory will fade away
when I’m gone far away
when I’m gone