Untitled

She was the color of love
You could see it in those eyes so blue
Never laid eyes on such a pretty face either
She was quiet but nice, a real nice girl.

She was the color of roses
When they're brought indoors and plunged into water
They just open up to the world like they can't wait
To take their next breath.

Thought I'd never have a chance with her
So I was her friend, cause everyone needs friends
Even the prettiest girls are the 'new girl' sometimes
I knew she'd find someone better than me.

Her house was a bus stop away
And I used to wait and walk the mile back
I said I did it for the exercise
I said one day I was gonna play second base.

And so we got to talking, and I saw that she
Crossed her legs the opposite way
We laughed and I think that was the very first night
I cried into my pillow for being happy.

She was the color of red lipstick
Stole it from her mom's drawer and used it on the bus
I'd smudge it just as she got to the real fine parts
And she'd kick me as hard as she could.

We got to hanging out by the swings, by the bars
She could do cherry drops and other scary things
I pretended I could do them too if I'd wanted to be a girl
But I thought she was so damn brave.

Thought I'd never have a chance with her
And it was just a matter of time, a matter of months
Maybe a year, my fear was so strong back then
I didn't know what I meant to her at all.

We didn't even think of those things mostly
She had the last garbage pail card that I needed
I tried everything I could think of to get it
I pleaded, I went down on one knee and proposed.

Just so I could get that girl the color of rose
To part with a token she kept in a drawer in her room
I saw it once, it smelled like perfume
I'd thought I'd never love another person again.

And the magpie on the phone line by her window
Used to watch us in a curious way as it piped its call
I said I wanted to go downstairs and play foosball
She lingered a bit and then followed, laughing softly.

I'd let her win and she knew it and I knew she knew
But nothing was ever said
And one day on the playground she didn't show
And my heart felt itself fill with dread.

And my legs, they felt like lead.
And then the voice in the classroom in a clinical kind
Of sorrow said all of the things I can't bear to think of now
How she'd been playing in the river and drown...

And it rained that day like a hundred floods
All come down cause of what all the kids had done
Teased us for carrying on and whispered we're in love
As both our faces turned the color of blood.

And it rained that day like a torrent from heaven
That was hurled at the game board to stop the games
I'm older now but I still can't stop crying
And my pillow shrinks each night to feel me so cold.

And the elms still bend in on windy days
And the school bells screech for other little souls
And the playground's full of laughter
And the waves in that river pound against the banks.

Why do the clouds alight the way they do?
Why do petals always bloom in odd numbers - is it true?
Why do trees fall in the winter when they were strong
The year before they splintered?

Why do we come and go at all
When it causes so much pain
What can twelve year olds do that's so bad
To make the world ever treat them like that?

And it ain't stopped raining since
And the little magpie she just stares all day long
And it ain't stopped raining since
And that magpie she stares all day long...

And it ain't stopped raining since
And the little magpie she just stares all day long
And it ain't stopped raining since
And that magpie she stares all day long...

And there's silence now round the house near her perch
For she hasn't the heart,
For a song.