Loving You

You could have saved the trouble,
If you'd used your magic then
To see you'd change your mind on me.
You could have stayed home from that tourney,
You could have never let
Your sleepy eyes enchant me.
You could have kept your kisses
For someone whom you'd want to kiss
For more than twenty years.
You could have wrapped your loving arms around
Somebody else you'd want to hold forever.

But oh my love, I'm glad you didn't,
And oh my darling, thank you
For the years you gave me.
When I look back, through tears of parting,
I can't regret a single second loving you.

If I had seen it coming,
Should I not have stepped up next to you,
My arms around your waist?
Should I have left you standing on my porch,
Locked out with all your early-morning scruples?
Should I have never told you
That I dreamed about you
Years before I ever heard your voice?
Should I have said that you were just another woman,
Not the lady I was born for?

Oh no my love, not for a minute,
Oh no my darling, not a single word's regretted.
When I look back, through tears of longing,
I only wish I'd spent more hours loving you.

I can't believe you've left me,
But my empty bed reminds me
Every morning that you're gone.
And all the fond sweet dreams that fill my nights
Can't fool the arms that wake around a pillow.
I guess I've learned a lesson:
Love alone can't bridge the canyons
That our foolish minds devise.
And all the tender words you used to mean
Can't save a marriage that became a habit.

But still my love, despite my suff'ring,
All that I remember, darling, is our laughter.
When I look back, through tears of wonder,
I'll always thank you for the joy of loving you.

—Eugene, Oregon
28 June 1996

(To the tune "Elusive Butterfly of Love", loosely)