Diastole

In time we learned to wait
To gather all the leaves
Until the last one fell
Away from the tree

Over my shoulder I saw
You looking back over yours
How easy would it be now
That we know what we know?

All this time we spent waiting around
Putting off all the issues too big to face
In favor of the smallest of things that we could actually do
To feel as though we tried something
At least we know we did something

Hushed by the sound
Of your diastole
Tenuous the grasp
Til we were asked to leave

It’s not keeping it so you won’t forget
It’s letting yourself believe you won’t
It’s not welcoming sunlight through the shades
It’s getting yourself up out of bed
It’s not realizing just how bad it was
It’s realizing just how bad it gets

We last spoke about the future
And doesn’t it seem naive
All the things we thought we’d see?

In time we learned to let
The closest ones see
What we’d been hiding
Underneath the fallen leaves

Outside my window I saw
No one was looking out yours
The best that I could explain
You finally packed your things and moved away

All this time wondering who’d be there
If we’d just gone and knocked on the door
But we just rationalized that probably you weren’t home

At least you know we thought of you
At least we know we did something