An Alchemist has taken rooms three floors up in the attic space
What he does there I don't know I wouldn't go near the place
But sometimes between my dreams slivers of his magistry
Catch me unawares and I crave a little mystery
He's certainly a private man - perhaps he's shy, this guest of mine
Still, he seems a gentleman and he pays the rent on time
His visitors are strange and few, he's seldom seen in the daylight hours
Magpies bring him gifts of stuff, his window-box holds mandrake flowers
Ten years I've been a widow now: long enough to mourn a man
Long enough to chance my heart again?
I serve him all the choicest fayre, bread I've shaped with my own two hands
Wine I've saved for year on year, sweets from oriental lands
I ply the man with roasted meats, woo him with my provender
Scent the house with cinnebar, scent the sheets with lavender
Ten years I've lived a widow now, long enough sans company
Dignity, propriety, go hang! I've other tricks to bring him round.
My mother was a hedgewitch and my father peddled spells
I'd shame them both, gods rest them, if I couldn't do as well
My first love was a wealthy man, I planned that way you see
Why ever do you think he loved a country girl like me?
...There's woman's magic no man knows...
The echoes of his summonings - slivers of his magistry
Traces of his arcane power - oh, how I crave this mystery
Womans' magic, aid me now: Atremis and Hecate
Conjure him with all I know, make him want to conjure
Make him want to conjure
Make him want to conjure me...
Words and music by & © Talis Kimberley 13.2.1996