Can't You See?

Music & lyrics, 1982

Late in the night
I awoke with a fright
When I suddenly saw what you did
With all of the feelings
That you've been revealing
Of how your relationship's split

You pushed them away
As if you wanted to say
That ev'rything's now working out
But when I see you so down
I know you're losing ground
You're confusing the issue with doubts

Of your right
To be right

I've watched you enough
To be sure that you love
Every person you touch with your life
But you need something more
Than his name on your door
If your baby's to grow in the light

You know something's missing
When you can start listing
The wounds that your heart seeks to mend
Must you punish yourself
And cohabit a shelf
And not bring all of this to an end?

Why can't you
Love you?

What is it that you have lost?
What can't you find?
You're caught in confusion
And failing to feel
Subtle cruelty's design

What is it that you can't see
What ev'rybody knows
What does it take
To be blinding yourself
To the tears within your soul
You're so alone...

What ever happened
To your song and laughter
Can't you see your spirit's been hurt?
And where's your concern
For a child that will learn
All the pains of emotional burns?

You've lost all perspective
And only collected
The reasons for why you're at fault
But there's no right or wrong
If the feelings are gone
And were they really there at the start?

I've seen you wonder
You wonder

I look in your eyes
And I know that goodbye is
The hardest thing that you could conceive
But you've committed yourself
To an ongoing hell
If you can't break away and believe

That hostility kills
And you know that it will
There's already a hole in your heart
He's so pleasant today
But tomorrow you'll pay
If you continue to stay where you are

Why can't you
Free you?

What is it that you have lost?
What can't you find?
You're caught in confusion
And failing to feel
Subtle cruelty's design

What is it that you can't see
What ev'rybody knows
What does it take
To be blinding yourself
To the tears within your soul
You're so alone...

© Kirtland C. Peterson, 1982