love minus zero

my love, she speaks like silence, without ideals or violence, she doesn't have to say she's faithful, yet she's true like ice, like fire, people carry roses, and make promises by the hours, my love, she laughs like the flowers, valentines can't buy her, the bridge at midnight trembles, the country doctor rambles, banker's nieces seek perfection, expecting all the gifts that wise men bring, the wind howls like a hammer, and the night blows rainy, my love, she's like some raven, at my window with a broken wing, in the dime stores and bus stations, people talk of situations, read books, repeat quotations, draw conclusions on the wall, some speak of the future, my love, she speaks softly, she knows there's no success like failure, and that failure's no success at all,