I stepped into the room late last night
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because late is the time I keep
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you were sleeping warm as coal
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in a pocket of comfort and white sheets
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but you don't startle anymore when I step into the room
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though the hour is later than midnight
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and neither window can place a moon.
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"I missed you," you say
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and it sounds like a promise
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when whispered half asleep
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your skin still damp with sweat
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from thoughts your dreams refused to keep
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I follow my memory to a switch on a light
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"Shut your eyes" my voice cut short
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when darkness turns bright
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"Do you love me?" you say
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but love is too familiar a word
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for in this bed 10,000 times a phrase already heard
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but, "Yes, I love you" speaks my reply
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though I know I failed myself and you for not
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matching how I feel with words of higher wealth
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I know its lonely in the world tonight
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because here is more than what's deserved
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and the imbalance can't be summed in black and white
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cause "love's" too familiar a word.
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Love's Too Familiar a Word
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| Ellis Paul |
