Her minute hand on the second hand of my wound up voice

Winding it back to a time before she heard that shrapnel noise

And visions of those that would force her to make a choice

Erased everything she knew and looked the other way

Oh what was it that made me want to stray?

 

She wanted solidarity but was paid in enmity

And she learned never to offer again her pity

The drastic weather on the cliffs of dover marked itself in graffiti

Signs pointing, “Go forth or go the other way”

Oh what was it that left me so far astray?

 

I walked along the castle walls to set my visions on the west

Searching for a glimmer of a white-robed queen on her quest

To clothe me with her pride as I stood laughing within her breast

But the sun never rose, never came down this way

Oh, what was it made me think I’d see clear across the bay?

 

The merchants on the road between Jerusalem and Damascus

Offered her a prophecy in hopes she’d never return to trust

Belittled by doubt as the transaction came to a bust

She faltered, changed her mind, left alone to find her way

Oh what was it that kept my lights from going grey?

 

She remembered the bright golden dust of where her passions spun

Concluded she’d rather go alone beneath the hot desert sun

And I was waiting by the border thinking my fears would come unwrung

I watched as she walked cautiously hoping she’d look back my way

Oh what was it that kept me here to stay?

  

When we parted one last time, she held her hand in mine

But there was no going back, no time for the clock to unwind

I was holding onto someone else from a different place and time

When I looked at her I knew I only wanted things to stay

Oh what was it that made me want to stray?

 

By now I’m wringing out the last drops of sweat from my brows

A ceremony of one waltzing slowly beneath the crows

Circling round ruins their three legs jutting out like arrows

And I’m hoping I can find her even if I lose my way again

Oh what was it that made me want to stray?