...and counting...

6/08/2005

 
Line-By-Line

i always wanted one
to conceive i could be funny
to go along with the joke
long enough to maybe see
the punch line
that i drew in the sky line
and even though i'd trip on the old lines
that i was sincere
in my desire
to reel her in and make her my mine
but i would have to love her laugh
because if i got everything i asked
the sound of her laughter wouldn't pass
in the ignorance of youth
i believed it to be truth
that any one and one could make two
and that with both parties' dilligence
this plan would be foolproof
but with age i saw plain as day
that not just anyone could laugh with me
at first it broke my heart
but then it came as a relief
when i realized if i laughed at all
the moment would be brief
and later came a greater epiphany
that left to my comedy
even the surest thing could become tragedy
because i can't draw a perfect line
such a thing is for sure divine
on my own i can't connect her heart to mine
i had to look to the one
who installed my spine
it was by his design
that we give each other laugh lines
i got my one
she just believed that i was funny
she didn't really have to squint to see
that i really did sincerely
want to reel her in
but then i had to learn
that a fish she is not
if she had to be caught
she would have broken the line
skipped goodbyes
and been gone
i'd have been left alone
to eat bait
it would have been God's cruel joke
if my old wishes became my fate
i'm glad he had a better way
i got grace
i could never have dreamed of
such a beatiful face
i love the sound of her laughter
she laughs with me and at me
but i've learned it doesn't matter
we laugh together
it could not get better
now out on our patio chairs
we sit and we stare
deep into that nashville skyline
trying to find that long forgotten punch line
that i strung up there so long ago
we laugh
and the funny thing is
it wasn't even my joke