The corner store is painted blue It used to close at half past two That little tree beside the gate Is tall enough to give me shade I know the cracks along this street Or thought I knew them underneath Funny what a couple years Can move without disappearing The café kept the window seat I used to take when I was twenty-three I order what I ordered then The waiter asks if I've been in I almost tell him, “All the time” Instead I smile and say, “It's fine” Outside, somebody locks a bike Against the rail I used to like It looks the same from here Until I get too near Maybe nothing disappeared It just looks different from here There's a light on the second floor I used to know who lived behind that door Now someone's dancing through the blinds To music that was never mine And for a second, I expect To miss the life I left back then But all I feel is something new A little distance in the view It looks the same from here Until I get too near Every window, every name Still familiar, never quite the same Maybe time didn't move this place Maybe it just moved my frame Nothing had to disappear To look different from here I thought coming back Would pull me backward Like a photograph Still knows your face But memory keeps Changing the distance And every old room Makes a little space I don't need it Like I did I can love where I have been The corner store is painted blue That little tree has changed the view I take the long way out of here And everything looks different From here
