I’ve made a deal with common sense

We know what’s best kept or left behind.

My feet know when to leave

My heart knows what it’s really worth

But if my eyes catch sight of your shaggy hair,

Your lashes and the way they curl,

Then I have to beg for joy that hurts

Yes, I know it’s less than I deserve.

I was tough like solid gold,

Like Peter Pan, I couldn’t love

So hopeless I couldn’t feel a thing.

I let you heat me over an open flame

Beating me, branding me vulnerable.

So sick, I loved the suffering.

You could have said that you were cold

So burned that your flesh was untouchable.

When once love felt so poisonous,

It’s oxygen that I’ll never exhale.

I’m not swimming in an alternative

I heard when you said it loud and clear,

That you’d prefer loneliness.

Yes, I understand why I’ve been dismissed

But you can’t pretend you’re under lock and key

Someday I’ll understand why certain things

Are specifically things that I can’t have.

But until then I’ll have to pretend

That you’ll ask for me.