Another Life

[MARIAN]
Put inside the picture frame some tables and a coffeepot
A uniform, a girl of twenty-three
Sitting at a table, put a man of thirty-seven
As exotic as that girl would ever see
Have her standing over him and laughing
As he’s asking her a question no one thought to ask before
Color him with mystery and color her with danger
And expose them just enough to wish for more

And there was something there between us
Something I could never name:
Something stronger, something stranger
More than quicksand, more than flame:
Another life

Further down the gallery, a picture of a couple
On a honeymoon in Marrakesh somewhere
See him with his camera at his eye
And see her grasping at his hand
Afraid he doesn’t know she’s there

And there was something deep inside him
Something I could never reach
Like he saw it getting closer
In a window, on a beach:
Another life

Another life...
But I believed I’d grow to be
The thing he needed most to see
And if our nights just stayed this hot
I’d break him down
He’d open up...
Well, obviously not

Back there in a shadow, find a picture of a woman
Wearing four years of confusion like a scar
Walking through the door and leaving nothing but a note
That says "I'm sorry, Robert," taped to her guitar

And there is so much I still wonder
Did he need me? Did he know?
"Love is open, love is easy":
That was someone long ago
Another life
Another life