When Last I Was a Fisherman

When last I was a fisherman

I'd watch the storms rise up from the sea

And see it as a sign to me

That the sea was still my mistress

And teasing me for love

When last I was a fisherman

I'd watch the whale-fish blow

And rise up from the darkest deep real slow

And see it as a sign to me

That she was still my mistress

And teasing me for love

I never knew why she loved me

I never tried for her favour

I wouldn't have known how

I wouldn't have known how

And I didn't have the know-how

To heel and toe her, heel and toe her

I only knew that she was my mistress

And teasing me for love

When last I was a fisherman

I lay along the sea wall

My body pressed against

The blue of her occupation elsewhere

She was busy with the other boats

But I knew she'd turn her belly back to me

When she was free

When last I was a fisherman

I'd stand against the sea

My skiff adrift in ecstasy

The mast a-singing, the salt a-stinging

I'd see it as a sign to me

That she was still my mistress

And just teasing me for love

I never knew why she loved me...

When last I was a fisherman

I lay awake one night

Her cooing and raving nearby

And I waited in youthful eagerness

For the dawn's first hint of light

For my mistress to come

For she to come to me

I knew she was coming

I could feel her coming

And I waited and I waited

And I waited and I waited...

'Til I raised my voice unto the night

And only heard a baby's cry

I never knew why she loved me...