My love, he speaks like silence Without ideals or violence He doesn't have to say he's faithful Yet he's true like ice, like fire People carry roses And make promises by the hours My love, he laughs like the flowers Valentines can't buy him In the dime stores and bus stations People talk of situations Read books, repeat quotations Draw conclusions on the wall Some speak of the future My love, he speaks softly He knows there's no success like failure And that failure's no success at all The cloak and dagger dangles Madams light the candles In ceremonies of the horsemen Even the pawn must hold a grudge Statues made of matchsticks Crumble into one another My love winks, he does not bother He knows too much to argue or to judge The bridge at midnight trembles The country doctor rambles Banker's nieces seek perfection Expecting all the gifts that wise men bring The wind howls like a hammer The night blows rain in My love, he's like some raven At my window with a broken wing