Otherwise

I wish you’d learn to put the cap back on the toothpaste
and you wish I’d learn to put the toilet seat back down
How can love survive such fundamental problems?
It’s a mystery to me.

We can harmonize, but we have problems with the timing
you just waltz right in when I’m working on my songs
and you don’t sleep tight, so I have to tiptoe when I come home
after playing music late at night

but when I find myself imprisoned
by sheer walls of sound
your smile can inspire and free me
I lose my sense of humor
then you clown around
until I’m laughing at myself

            sometimes this love seems all too familiar
            other times it’s hard to recognize
            In my mind it makes no sense
            for us to be together
            but my heart knows otherwise

When I wake up I like a coffee and a quiet space
but you want to talk about remodeling the kitchen
you know I could care less about the trappings of a house
but I like the idea of a home

We compete sometimes over who’s taking who for granted
you wish I’d shave more often than I do
and I wish you’d wear a pretty dress instead of blue jeans
like you did when love was new

But when you come in from the garden
with ripe strawberries
the skin on your neck tastes like sunshine
and a sense of true belonging
washes over me
in this place where love still grows

            (Chorus)

...otherwise I’d probably still be
writing songs in 2 part harmony
about love that doesn’t compromise, doesn’t disagree
over money and laundry
and whose turn it is to wash the dirty dishes.

            sometimes this love seems all too familiar
            and yet I still get taken by surprise
            In my mind it makes no sense
            for us to be together
            but my heart knows otherwise                                                         

© 2002 by jeffrey wash