23 Years

Was it the aching of your wrists
Or just because of your weathered eyes
Was it the shaking your clenching fists
Or the hollow pass of time
Was it the aging of her hips
Or the way that my mother always cried
Was it the taste of another’s lips
For which you put down your fight
Had you forgotten her long white dress
How pretty she looked coming down the isle
You asked her to love you and she said yes
And she loved you like a child
Had you forgotten those long hard days
Coming home to your lover every night
She’d wait for you to step off of that train
She’s been waiting all her life
Love is getting your hands dirty
Love is bleeding all over each other
Love is sharing the same burden
Love’s not living, it’s dying, it’s dying together
It’s dying together
I feel the weight of her broken prayer
23 years pleading for your life
23 years begging you to care
For your tired and lonely life