Life Goes On

I drove over the Whitestone bridge

It was a beautiful day for a ride

One of those glorious mornings in May

The sun on the bay, sparkling like diamonds

I drove up to the Whitestone building

I saw your mother and father outside

Those dysfunctional people I used to despise

Now the tears in their eyes glittered like diamonds

While my eyes were dry

You were not a part of my life, really

I was not a part of your life, very much

Our roads went separate ways

And occasional days they would touch

So why should it feel strange?

Nothing much had changed

Now that you are gone

You were not a part of my life

And life goes on

Life goes on

There was a picture of you on an easel

Looking just like you did on TV

Impossibly handsome, too tanned to be true

And your eyes were so blue and clearer than diamonds

There were no bruises or tubes in your chest

There were no patches of skull in your hair

No hollow stare and no skeleton grin

The bones through your skin, brittle as diamonds

As you struggled for air

But you were not a part of my life, really

So I tell myself this numbness I feel isn't bad

Every day is so many-fold

If we grieved for them all, we'd go mad

Best to keep control

Just a little cold

Just a bit withdrawn

You're no longer part of this life

And life goes on

And we trooped out to the pretty little grave

When the speeches were done

And we all mumbled some pretty little prayer

Beneath the warm, indifferent sun

And I wanted some callous politician

Or some cruel god I could blame

It's all so unfair

And they don't seem to care

Still, I'm painfully aware

I'm the same

I drove back over the Whitestone bridge

We had some friends dropping by for a meal

And soon I was laughing and eating my franks

Watching the Yanks stink up the diamond

But as the days and the weeks have gone by

I am amazed at how haunted I feel

Seems with this dry-eyed detachment I choose

There's something I lose

Like a counterfeit diamond

That used to be real

And somewhere there's a part of my life missing

Somewhere there's a piece of my heart that you kept

I know more will die just like you

And what else can we do but accept?

Still I sing this song

Just to say it feels all wrong

Knowing you are gone

And a slightly smaller part of my life goes on