don t cry my love don t cry no more a crashing sky a roaring screen a city drowning god s black tears i cannot bear to see she lay under the midnight moon her restless body stirring until the magic morning hour like poison it succumbs her her baby skin her old black dress her hair it twists round her necklace constricts and chokes like ruthless vines til sleep she overtakes her her room is painted heron blue lit by candlelight and chandelier and from her headboard perched so high a million dreams have passed her don t cry my love don t cry no more it overwhelms my breaking heart a minor swell of violins i cannot bear to hear them a mother shepherds her young birds she fills their mouths and warms their souls til they are strong and good to fly away from her alone she ll die cradle on quiet old oak limbs as heaven blue her light fails a breath of soot into her lungs a life a journey s end in one don t sing that old sad hymn no more it resonates inside my soul it haunts me in my waking dream i cannot bear to hear it don t play those violins no more their melancholic overtones they echo off the floor and walls i cannot bear to hear them