Second To One

i wish i could say,

just stop telling me you want me

if you're not prepared to take me

and i say,

just give me maybe one day

and then today will be alright

like a mosquito, i want to tell you

please don't crush me if i try to escape

thru your considerately open window

but we both know i'm not going anywhere

(even though i throw myself up against the glass

so many times)

(and the window is only open a sliver

not wide enough anyway)

and if i'm so amazing

how come i'm not the one you want

and if i'm so beautiful

why are you looking from so far away

and if i'm so soft

are your fingers too sharp to touch me now

(of course i know the answers to all these questions

and i ask them for dramatic purposes)

so, because you were feeling sad

and, i guess,

so was i

we gave and received quick ecstasy

for a little while

and now we have to pay for it

and now we're somehow forced

to feel an admirable regret

so we can look at out reflections

and not break the mirrors

the words we could find were too small

we tried for the big ones, but failed

and somewhere along the way

i gave you the words i love you

(a gift that took so long to leave me)

because although i knew that they were

something you wouldn't know what to do with

it was easier for me to have them

if i shared them with you

and your face crumpled

and you apologized

for being worthy of that love

and your face crumpled

and you apologized

for being worthy of that love

i've learned

you've taught me

love sometimes hurts more than oblivion

and

it's just not fair

the best thing about kissing you

is how sweetly

you put words into my mouth