Lights In The Window

V
Set out an empty chair
The place I used to sit
You put my name there
Like an epitaph
You think I don’t care
So many years have passed
Without my face in
The family photograph

I had a near miss
It changed the way I think
Too many chances
A lifetime in a blink
I know I missed them
Last time they came around
I need to reconcile
Before I’m in the ground

C
The landmines and the cannonballs
The old grudge, and the war it caused
Might be time to put them all away
Another year I forgot to call
Hang the lights in the window
I’ll be coming home today
I’ll be coming home today

V
You offered money
I just needed a friend
Then you forgot me
Whatever your intent
No conversation
Cos I was too intense
Your blank expression
Killed my innocence

So every year I
Pulled my excuses out
And decorated
My lonely tree
And I pretended
My solitary life
Was open-ended
Instead of ending me

V
I’ll enter slowly
One stranger, coming through
Afraid you’ll judge me
The way I’m judging you
I’ll sit in corners
And glance around the room
You’ll think I’m not enough
I think that may be true

But when I sneak in
Your smiles are warm and kind
I take the empty chair
And let the past unwind
We finally draw out
A map of our mistakes
Those many missteps
Won’t be the path we take

C
The landmines and the cannonballs
The old wars, let’s forget them all
We can hide the battle scars away
And this year I don’t have to call
I see the lights in the window
There are no more words to say
I found my way home today