Rowland S. Howard
Ave Maria
The rain fell on this street of grey
The steeple, lightning rod, the cross
The words, the vow, the ring, the kiss
Someone sang Ave Maria

My sweetest girl, my dangeress
Broke the window of my chest
My heart shot far from this world
Until it slowly came to rest
Inside the strangeness of her breast
My danger girl, my tigeress

History led her to me
Each footstep cut in memory
Clad in a dress of silver-grey
She walked into our wedding day

My sweetest girl, my dangeress
Broke the window of my chest
My heart shot far from this world
Until it slowly came to rest
Inside the strangeness of her breast
My dangerous girl, my tigeress

And through the daily devastation
We orbit in each other's wake
And in the coldness of the station
We board the train that lovers take
But when I try to talk to her
I don't speak that language anymore

For though my crimes remain unnamed
All my treasons, all my shames
Later you would rightly say
"We didn't dance upon our wedding day"