The Dutchman     by Mike Smith

The windmills swirl the winter in
She winds his muffler tighter
They sit in the kitchen
Tea and whiskey keeps away the dew
He see's her for a moment, calls her name
She makes his bed up
Singing some old love song
She learned it when the tune was very new
She hums a line or two, they hum together in the night
The Dutchman falls asleep and Margaret blows the candle out,

Chorus

The Dutchman's not the kind of man
To keep his thumb jammed in the damn
That holds his dreams in
But thats a secret only Margaret knows
When Amsterdam is golden
In the morning Margaret brings him breakfast
She believes him
He thinks the tulips bloom beneath the snows
He's mad as he can be,
But Margaret only sees that sometimes
Sometimes she sees her unborn children in his eyes

Chorus;
Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zydder-Zee
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me

The Dutchman still wears wooden shoes
His cap and cloak are patched with love
That Margaret sewed in
Sometimes he thinks he's still in Rotterdam
He watches tug-boats down canals
And calls out to them
When he thinks he knows the captain
'Til Margaret comes to take him home again
Through unforgiving streets
Tripping, though she holds his arm
Sometime he thinks that he's alone
And calls her name,

Chorus