Receiving Line

Emily, more than a neighbor
Less than love, closer to like
Like I've said, I am completely
Over that time of life

What our parents paid for
Our respective shoes should not mean a thing
But with your Catholic tongue
You could make it all come clean

Quarantine, the still of the summer
Your porch screen softened the light
But chicken pox don't last forever
And when they go we say goodbye

In the attic empty
We are K-I-S-S-I-N-G
But in the company of everyone else
We are less than meant to be

By the time reason took over
We did not speak of that July
And by the time you lost a mother
I had no place in your receiving line

I had no place in your receiving line