Judas Tree

Waking up to the light through the trees,
I can see the seasons change.
She’s sleeping with her knees on the steering wheel
and her head on the window pane.
Our love affair is in full flower –
it feels a bit like spring:
Red buds bloom along the skin of her arms.
She’s drifting out through a dream.

Now I’m waking up under the Judas Tree,
to the light of endless days.
I’ve got the kiss and I’ve got the silver
to keep us here like this always.

I see the house that could not hold us
there in the rear-view mirror.
So I know last night that we didn’t get far –
but I think we could be farther than we appear.
All I remember, I was sitting beside her
when she fell asleep at the wheel.
And the car slipped slow off the side of the road
and crashed down into a field.

Now I’m waking up under the Judas Tree,
to the light of endless days.
I’ve got the kiss and I’ve got the silver
to keep us here like this always.

So I don't know who let down whom.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this fragile heart
is what bound us from the start –
It's a bitter sap that love can tap in us.

Well I could tell tales of my own betrayals:
all the times I’ve brought her a fix.
She looks so frail, but I know too well,
we could go on forever just like this.
And I know I could just walk away
but I don’t need to be free.
Red buds bloom along the road forever
as long as she’s with me.

Now I’m waking up under the Judas Tree,
to the light of endless days.
I’ve got the kiss and I’ve got the silver
to keep us here like this always.

So I won't say she let me down.
Maybe it's wrong, but I think this fragile heart
is what joined us from the start.
It's a bitter sap that love can tap sometimes.

And all that matters – can't you see ? –
is that it’s another year and she still is here with me.
Another year and she still is here with me.

Tam Lin