[ and i watch her from the sidelines ]

and i watch her from the sidelines
they scream and whine
she takes it all in strife
cause she's been there

and she curses now and then
and she tries not to cry
but i see the pools in her eyes
cause she's been there

and she dreams in colors
that you'd never knew existed
of whales and oceans blue
but she's never been there

her life miscolored
tattered and torn
like yesterdays paper
thrown down with coupons cut out

the funnies entertain for awhile
the sales are great though out of reach
the story line of the day is nothing
like last year

been there done that
i dont read them at all
but she knows how the world turns
cause shes been there

and i watch her watch us
and wonder how she can possibly
maintain
when i can barely make it through the hour

sometimes

sometimes i sit here and i cry
worrying about her
worrying about her
because this was not how i knew her to be

how i wanted her to stay
how i hoped she would fly away
from home
spread her wings

so beautiful they are
weathered from the storms
but needing some repair
some brushing off

the fire calls her
but she is too tired to fly
and the flames are nothing new to her
because shes been there

the lights flicker on and off
as the a/c kicks on
i walk past her
but don't realize it

she is lying in her home
on the middle of the living room floor
as her grandchildren
lie in her bed

smiling in dreams they are
as she huddles alone under a blanket
the night is hot but she shivers
as it calls her home

never letting her in
never letting her go
calling her
teasing her

as the morning comes
the light shines in
color brushes her face
her eyes grey

she wears no makeup
her age becomes obvious
and more alarming the loss
of her youth

she carries on
she carries on
she carries on

we cry together
on the inside

i am becoming her
she is leaning on me
we say not a word
but our eyes meet

our eyes tell the story
of lifes pain and glory
because we've been there

and there's no turning back now