He was gone with no warning He was gone without a word He was gone in the morning He was early as a bird He came back to bed at midnight And I asked him where he'd been But I couldn't find the lamplight And his face I'd never seen Was he lovely, was he too young? Was he ugly as a sin? Doesn't he know I don't care As long as I can be with him? My sisters told me he was a monster And I had no words to defend I must believe that he's a good man But I have never met his friends If I could just take up off his blanket I could see him in his skin I don't mean it as a prank But I must know more about him Is he a cutthroat, or a philanderer? Is he ashamed to show his face? Shouldn't I wonder at who he is, then The man I take in my embrace? I hid an oil lamp at my bedside And waited for him to get back When we made love, still swathed in shadow Well, he left marks upon my neck His voice was calming as a creek bed His hands were softer than a breeze I'd put my fingers in his curls That gathered like the tops of trees When he fell asleep beside me I felt I'd settle all my doubts But looking on him brought a flood To what before had been a drought He was gone with no warning He was gone without a word