the red and blue of me

i don’t know if it was real or in a dream
lately waking up i’m not sure where i’ve been
there was a table set for six and five were there
i stood outside and kept my eyes upon that empty chair
and there was steam on the windows from the kitchen
laughter like a language i once spoke with ease
but i’m made mute by the virtue of decision
i choose most of your life goes on without me

oh the fear i’ve known that i might reap the praise
of strangers and end up on my own
all i’ve sown was a song but maybe i was wrong

i said to you the one gift which i’d adore
unwrap a package of the next 10 years unfolding
but you told me if i had my way i’d be bored
right then i knew i loved you best born of your scolding

when we last talked we were lying on our backs
looking up at the sky through the ceiling
i used to lie like that alone out on the driveway
trying to read the greek upon the stars
the alphabet of feeling

oh i knew back then
it was a calling that said if joy then pain
the sound of the voice these years later
is still the same

i am alone in a hotel room tonight
i squeeze the sky out but there’s not a star appears
begin my studies with this paper and this pencil
and i’m working through the grammar of my fears

mercy what i won’t give to have the things that mean the most
not to mean the things i miss
unforgiving the choice still is the language or the kiss
by Indigo Girls