When? - Mandy Patinkin

Ella, look at me

This way, Ella

Ella, concentrate hard

Ella, hear me

And turn before I deal another card

No, don’t look at me

Don’t look up now

If you look at me, then

I will look at you, happily

And they will see how much I like you

When will I get to know you, Ella?

When will we meet?

When will we speak?

When will I once again touch your cheek?

When?

So much I want to show you, Ella

Sights we can see

Things we can do

Poems I’ve written

Especially for you

But when?

I pass

I pass, I pass the hours planning

Things to teach you

Pass the hours planning

Ways to reach you

When, when, when

One heart

One heart is beating wildly

Can you hear my heart is beating wildly?

You are near it

When will we be alone together?

When will we meet?

When will we speak?

When will I once again touch your cheek?

When?

«Ella, gay as a tarantella»

«Pure as larks singing a cappella»

«Let my poem be your umbrella»

Ella, poets who suffer pain

Should fall in love with girls named Jane

Not Ella

When, Ella, when?

I long to teach

Your eyes how to read

Hands how to write

Lips how to speak

But night after night

When?

When?

When?

When?

When?

When?

When?

I see you scouring and mending

Pale and dreamy

Bending and pretending

Not to see me

When?

When?

When?

I see you smile at me in Notions

While you’re cooking

Cover your emotions

Look, they’re looking

When will we ever be together?

When is the time?

Where is the place?

When can I once again touch your face?

When?

When?

When?

When?

When?

When?

When?

When?

When?

When?

When?

«Harkins absent

The daylight darkens»

Ella, what kind of coward am I?

This I will not allow

Ella, what if they do their worst?

I’ll see you first

We’ll be together

Now, Ella, now girl

I shall show

Your hands how to touch

Eyes how to glow

Lips how to kiss

I’ve so much to show

Then you will blossom

Then you will grow

And then then then then then then then

Then then then then then then then