By The Window

The letter's still beside the piano I've read it more than I can say The words look different in the evening Though none of them have changed In the mirror all the room is there The lamp, the window, me But something shifts when I look back At who I used to be I don't deny the past its place I don't ask it to return Some things stay in the room with me Some things fade; some still remain If a song can cross the distance It can leave the rest unsaid I can hear what you were reaching for And still remember what I heard The photographs are small and faded Their edges lifting from the wall I keep them close beside the mirror Though time has changed them all Those faces belong to years gone by They don't tell the whole of it I can look at them in silence And leave the past where it sits I don't deny the past its place I don't ask it to return Some things stay in the room with me Some things fade; some still remain If a song can cross the distance It can leave the rest unsaid I can hear what you were reaching for And still remember what I heard I won't pretend a softer meaning Makes the sharper one disappear But I can leave the window open Without asking you to appear There's a note I haven't answered There's a line I might yet send For tonight, the piano's quiet That is where the thought can end I don't deny the past its place I don't need to make it new Some things stay, though they have changed Some things I can set down, too If a song can cross the distance Let it reach me as it can I can keep the part that mattered And still decide where I will stand The last light leaves the window I fold the letter And leave it there