Someone Missing? Someone Gone?
I listened to the old man’s sighs,
he bowed his head and closed his eyes.
Back in time his memories went.
His shoulders and his back were bent.
His face took on a haunted look,
as he scrolled through his minds scrapbook.
A smile appeared and up he glanced,
remembering some time enhanced
by pictures entering his mind,
something that he had left behind
in those faint far away spent days,
recollected down distant ways.
And then his countenance turned grim,
a stark event came back to him,
forgotten for a long, long spell,
making the shining tears to dwell,
within those seeing orbs that shone.
Is someone missing? Someone gone?
I saw before me a man wise,
and watched him as he tried to rise.
Stumbling, weary, along the road,
carrying such a heavy load
of sorrows, pain and things now past.
On cobblestones his shadow cast.
So slowly he advanced towards,
a shelter made of plywood boards.
And climbing in, was out of view,
his name, his age, I never knew.
I turned and walked across the square,
thinking that life was so unfair.
Next day I heard that he had died,
and that’s when I sat down and cried.
poem by Ernestine Northover
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
I Must Have Been Sleeping
'Where are you going, ' I heard her say
As the dream took me straight to the core,
We parked at the side of a very long road
And I got out the driver's door;
'I've never known that, ' I replied, and she sat
On her hands, with the pain of surprise,
'So what you've been saying has never been true! '
The tears rose up in her eyes!
'The road has been long, the road has been wide,
I never knew where I could turn.'
'I thought you were happy with me, ' she said;
There was nothing to say in return.
'I must have been sleeping for seventeen years, '
My voice sounded foreign and coarse,
But I couldn't handle the sighs and the lies,
Or the terrible sound of - 'divorce! '
I walked to the wood at the side of the road,
And followed the pathway around,
I couldn't look back now I'd made up my mind
Though I walked unfamiliar ground,
The clearing was quiet, the birds didn't sing,
A mountain rose up in my view,
I suddenly saw there was no going back
To the comfortable life that I knew.
I cast off my shackles and took a deep breath,
To breathe in both freedom and pride,
My strength was returning, and clearer my eye,
I walked with a bounce in my stride,
The years fell away, I was thirty again,
I stopped then, and sat on a stone,
For darkness was gathering there in the gloom
With that terrible feeling - alone!
I thought of the woman I'd left on the road,
Who'd always been faithful to me,
The tears that she'd shed for a love that was dead
Made me sad, and ashamed to be free,
I thought of the comfort she'd given me when
All my world started going insane,
She'd cooked and she'd cared, and she'd loved and she'd shared
And I'd given her nothing but pain.
I turned on the track, and I made my way back
But I couldn't see where I had been,
I stumbled through thickets and walked into trees
And I fell on my knees on the green.
'I am lost, I am lost, ' I cried into the night
Then I heard her voice, dim, by a tree
And woke to her stroking my face and my brow
As I cried… She was waiting for me!
9 March 2008
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Long Summer Days
(Justin Hayward)
Long summer days, I keep thinking
What to do with my time
So many ways, I keep sinking
What's to do with my time
Take me back, I don't mind
(Take me back) I've got time
(Take me back) and let me start again
Time hurries by, I keep thinking
What's to do in our time
Don't let it by, just keep thinking
What's to do in our time
Take me back, I don't mind
(Take me back) I've got time
(Take me back) and let me start again
Utopia's within our sight (Utopia)
Don't kick it or we lose it
Though you think the world's too fast
It's that way 'cause we choose it
Automation is the cry (Automation)
Our minds have been forgotten
To understand me, you must try
My thoughts are turning rotten
Oh, please, please
Don't mess it up now for me
Please, please
Don't sit there and condemn me
Please, please, please
Long summer days, I keep thinking
What's to do with my time
So many ways, I keep sinking
What's to do with my time
Take me back, I don't mind
(Take me back) I've got time
(Take me back) and let me start again
Ah, ah, ah, ah long summer days
*************************************************************
song performed by by Moody Blues
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Mouths To Feed...
the wind called...
and i went walking,
down hard edged streets,
past the abandoned and forsaken...
through dirt and filth,
grime, grease, and soot.
down past the edge of town...
i made camp by the tracks.
haunted by the sounds
of living now just echoes,
echoes and shadows,
shadows almost forgotten.
haunted by the faces,
the dreams, the fires now ash...
the smell of need and
the harsh stench of hunger.
i made a leanto from yesterday's boards,
built a small fire, hunched
against the cold and the howl.
into a small pot all that was left,
and waited for the Guest to arrive.
day became sunset, sunset night.
the darkness wrapped with murky doubt.
then, from behind the clouds,
one star shone through...
and i knew the time,
i knew the answer...
no time for sleep, no sleep for dreams,
i spent the night making ready.
and stood to face the dawn,
with nothing left to hide,
and nothing left to cling to!
a new day, perhaps my last,
one day to make a life.
i turned back towards the town,
and went in search of...
mouths to feed, tears to wipe away!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Reminiscenes
Oh those days gone past my era of joy,
“Come back – come back’’ I’m yelling
now. Still today when the memories
of those days flashback, a moment of
smile returns with the images of a few
happy friends holding hands and
Rejoicing-rejoicing in the small school
of Jnaneshwar. The river of love was
flowing in full swing, here-there,
everywhere was joy and joy and amidst
that joy lived some joyful friends happily.
we will never meet, my dear friends, all
of us once again and even in this
tearful life of today the slight memories
of those days bring back the smile on my
face. Oh those days gone past my era of
Joy- “please come back”.
Violent tides battle in the ocean of tears
each day that I remember the days gone
past in to the pages of memory, and the
Harbor though strong and resistant soon
falls apart as the teardrops wet my cheeks.
The stream of life haunted through the coot
and hern and joy bubbled at each fall until
it made a sudden sally and listed a thousand
miles between us which changed all. Late at
nights I’ve often awoken to cry for the laughter
that reverberates in my dreams, and soaking my
tears, I’ve often turned back expecting your eyes
which never allowed me feel solitary and I’ve passed
each day hoping that this day is the last day of
separation but the time is the arrow which once
shot, never really returns back.
Oh those days gone past my era of joy, don’t
Leave me broken, torn and lovelorn-
“Please come back.”
poem by Saket Suman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Goodbye
It took us a long time to part
and longer to say goodbye.
For the so few hours we ever had,
so quickly did they fly.
Separation was inevitable.
We knew it from the start
and yet we placed it in the back of our minds
and only knew the heart.
And the heart said, 'Not yet, not yet.'
as we listened to its beat.
As we touched one final time
the touch was just as sweet
as ever it had been.
We turned. We looked and slowly
wiped away our tears.
We walked into the empty future
of all the coming years.
poem by Edwina Reizer
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Faded Memories
I saw you in only a dream
you were there next to me
shining bright through the night
like rays of sunshine in the morning light
and on your lips a taste of paradise
as if heaven was all around me
You had a sparkle in your eyes
like diamonds glittering in the sun
and a smile on your face
you were always such a beautiful one
But as I held my head low
I could only watch you slowly go
said it just had to be
now you must set me free
walk away from this forgotten place
there's nothing left to save anymore
And like faded memories torn and frayed
love was forever lost it would seem
as I walked on alone
felt I been here once before
with these faded memories we once made
tears turned my heart into stone
when I knew you were never coming home
Was a time I needed you as I watched you leave
through those years that passed on by
thought I could never forget you
and all that we been through
still I find it hard to believe
how this love for you will never die
(spiritwind-2010)
poem by Spiritwind Wood
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Should Have Listened To Me
(tim hunt/steve bogard/rick giles)
(track 4 - time 3:30)
When you told me you needed a little time on your own
I kinda lied and said Id be alright all alone
My friends said hey man what can you do
Let her see whats missing and shell come back to you
They all said it was for the best
But I knew as I watched you leave
I shouldve listened to me, and gotten down on my knees
I heard the words in my heart, dont tear us apart
Come back baby please
I shouldve swallowed my pride, I shouldve broke down and cried
I was the one who knew that you and I were meant to be
I shouldve listened to me
Call it intuition, an instinctual feeling
When you know you bet it all and your gonna lose everything
Thats what I had when you walked out the door
And as each day passes Im feeling it more and more
Now that Im hear its all so clear
How could I have made you see
I shouldve listened to me, and gotten down on my knees
I heard the words in my heart, dont tear us apart
Come back baby please
I shouldve swallowed my pride, I shouldve broke down and cried
I was the one who knew that you and I were meant to be
I shouldve listened
I shouldve listened to me, and gotten down on my knees
I heard the words in my heart, dont tear us apart
Come back baby please
I shouldve swallowed my pride, I shouldve broke down and cried
I was the one who knew that you and I were meant to be
I shouldve listened to me
I shouldve listened to me
song performed by by Yankee Grey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Back Home
(Dolly Parton)
Back home, back home
Yes, I'm going back home
Why I can't believe it's been this long
Since I've seen mom and dad
When I left my mountain home behind
I left them both so sad
My brothers and my sisters that were babies then are grown
Years have past and now at last, I'm on my way back home
Back home, back home
Yes I'm going back home
To the factory smoke and city life, I'm sayin' so long
I've shed a lot of tears through all the years that I've been gone
And I've spent a lot of time a' wishin' I could go back home
I got a letter from mama an'
Mama asked me if I'd come back home
She says it sure is lonesome now
Since all of us kids are all growed up and gone
I just can't hardly stand the thoughts of
Momma and daddy being left there all alone
That's really all I need to know
And now I'm on the road back home
Back home, back home
Yes, I'm going back home
To the smog an' smoke an' city life, I'm sayin' so long
I've shed a lot of tears through all the years that I've been gone
And I've spent a lot of time a' wishin' I could go back home
Back home, back home
Yes, I'm going back home
song performed by by Dolly Parton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Can't Wait
Turned the page, Between the lines
I could read it so clearly
And every word, So defined
Turned my heart to weary.
Pressed against, An ear to wall
Everyone kept on racing
My mind was closed, My eyes were shut
But i could feel my body pacing.
I think i'm falling
I think i'm falling
I cant wait to be back home
A feeling you will never know
I cant wait to be alone
It seems like it was so long ago.
All this time, From day to day
The minutes pass, Your still waiting
I bear the pain, The final frown
Constantly still knocking.
Everything is so obscure
Its hard to tell but im leaving
The thrill is gone, but afterall
If looks could kill im still breathing.
I think i'm falling
I think i'm falling
I cant wait to be back home
A feeling you will never know
I cant wait to be alone
It seems like it was so long ago.
I never knew
There were stranger shdes
Fading fast from night to day.
I never knew.
I cant wait to be back home
A feeling you will never know
I cant wait to be alone
It seems like it was so long ago.
song performed by by Kelly Osbourne
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Shinning
Theres a man who sees all there is to see
What the future holds for all
As the days grow dark as his sole and final warning
Beware of the one with invisible friends they will steal into your mind
And all too soon the signs begin to show-oh
Rise up to the shinin
Live long live now-ow
Rise up to the shinin
Dont be blind by fools again
Fools again
As the page is turned and the storys told on the visions he had seen
The house on the hill with the haunted eyes that call
No one laughed as madness came out (out out) to play its game
If you stay too long youll finally go insane, now
Rise up to the shining
Live long live now-ow
Rise up to the shining
Dont be blind by fools again
Fools again
Bells will take their toll on your way out
Theres no way were born to shine before our time
All your life, youre on your own
Lonely road lost in a time
Let the light lead your way to the golden throne,
Its the only way
Rise up to the shinin
Live long live now-ow
Rise up to the shinin
Dont be blind by fools again
Rise up to the shinin
Live long live now-ow
Rise up the shinin
Dont be blind by fools again
Oh rise up to the shinin
Wise up, theyre gonna steal your mind
Rise up the house is gonna haunt you!
No one laughed, no one cried
Oh oh ahh-ahh yeah
song performed by by Black Sabbath
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In The Way Back Then
Seven years ago,
I went back to Canada
after forty-two years.
I walked down a road
to show my wife where I used to live.
The road was built on rolling hills
and as I came over one,
I knew instantly where I was.
Things had changed
in those forty-two years,
some would say
it was unrecognisable
from what I used to know,
but as soon as I started down the hill
things came back like yesterday.
It was as if I had never been away.
Memories of my childhood
instantly sprang to mind.
I found myself seeing things
not as the now,
but there were changes
from the way back then.
The memory flashes
brought a smile to my face
as I could visualise
all the friends I knew then,
the funny incidents that over my life
in the way back then.
All too soon, time
has a way of taking things back
and my memory reclined them
to the back door of my mind.
30 April 2008
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Ive Never Stopped Dreaming Of You
(j. l. wallace, terry skinner)
Ive forgotten your number
I hadnt called in a while
And Im slowly forgetting your funny little smile
Ive even stopped missing
The love that we knew
But Ive never stopped dreaming of you
Ive lost all the memories
The feel of your touch
And its left my mind why I loved you so much
Ive even forgotten who walked out on who
But Ive never stopped dreaming of you
Chorus:
Ive never stopped seeing your face every night
I see it each time that I close my eyes
And times heal the memories
Of the pain I went through
But Ive never stopped dreaming of you
Ive misplaced all the trinkets
That you told me to keep
And its been such a long time
Since Ive lost any sleep
Now Im doing just fine
With somebody new
But Ive never stopped dreaming of you
Repeat chorus
No Ive never stopped dreaming of you
song performed by by Reba Mcentire
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Pilgrims
An uphill path, sun-gleams between the showers,
Where every beam that broke the leaden sky
Lit other hills with fairer ways than ours;
Some clustered graves where half our memories lie;
And one grim Shadow creeping ever nigh:
And this was Life.
Wherein we did another's burden seek,
The tired feet we helped upon the road,
The hand we gave the weary and the weak,
The miles we lightened one another's load,
When, faint to falling, onward yet we strode:
This too was Life.
Till, at the upland, as we turned to go
Amid fair meadows, dusky in the night,
The mists fell back upon the road below;
Broke on our tired eyes the western light;
The very graves were for a moment bright:
And this was Death.
poem by John McCrae
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Walking the road to Emmaus
Their eyes were downcast and the pace was slow.
Why these things had happened they did not know.
On their shoulders they bore grief's heavy load
as they walked that long Emmaus road.
A stranger joined them as they walked that way.
Slowed His pace to hear what they had to say.
Step by step He walked along with them there
and then the scriptures He began to share.
Eyes restrained and holden they did not know
Who it was that joined them walking so slow.
In fellowship sweet He expounded God's word
and their hearts glowed at everything they heard.
From Moses through the Prophets He made known
of an open tomb and a heavenly throne.
They listened carefully as this Man talked
as together the Emmaus road they walked.
'Did not the Christ have to suffer', He said
'and then He was to be raised up from the dead.'
As they approached the place they were going
He acted as though He would not go in.
'The day is far spent, stay with us, ' they said
and then He entered their house and broke the bread.
At once their eyes were opened and they knew
it was Jesus, but He vanished from their view.
'Did not our heart burn within us, ' they said
then up they got and off to Jerusalem sped.
Found the disciples and said 'It is true.'
The Lord is risen and we've seen Him too.
The Passing
The change, it comes so slowly
Like the winter of our lives,
It encroaches while we're playing,
While we're laughing with our wives,
As the children wave goodbye
The first brief chill will still the air,
And that silence settles on us
As they turn, and close the door.
Then we stare long at each other
But we find no words to say,
You have been the faithful mother
That I married, back some way,
But I see your smile has faded
With the passing of the years,
And you turn your face away so I
Won't see that trace of tears.
Are you thinking of that moment
When you held that new born child,
Of the joy of those first steps, or of
The day your baby smiled?
And the schooling and the learning
And the knees they brought home skinned,
Or the pride you took each time you watched
That graduation film.
While I find my own thoughts turning
To those days before we wed,
To your awesome, breathless beauty
As you passed, and turned my head,
Of that first-time kiss I savoured
Out beneath the apple tree,
When I took you to my heart, and you
First said you wanted me.
Now we're grey, and more like shadows
Since the lust in us has died,
And we rarely touch each other
Since we turned to ash inside,
For the years of work and struggle
Took their toll on you and I,
And I hear you every evening as
You go outside to cry.
All those dreams that ended shattered,
All those hopes that turned to tears,
Here we sit, both disillusioned
With the tolling of the years,
And we pass our friends unseeing
As we wander in the street,
We are ghosts, a long time passing
Now our story is complete.
We are like the leaves of autumn
That have fallen from the trees,
Blowing through our days unspoken
With each passing, gentle breeze,
We will fade and be forgotten
In the long term way of things,
But we'll cling in desperation for
What each last moment brings.
25 November 2012
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
Oh, sometimes I go walking through fields where we walked
Long ago in the sweet used to be
And the flowers still grow, but they don't smell as sweet
As they did when you picked them for me
And when I think of you and the love we once knew
How I wish we could go back in time
Do you ever think back on old memories like that
Or do I ever cross your mind
Oh, how often I wish that again I could kiss
Your sweet lips like I did long ago
And how often I long for those two loving arms
That once held me so gentle and close
And when I think of you and the love we once knew
How I wish we could go back in time
Do you ever recall these old memories at all
Or do I ever cross your mind
When old memories appear my eyes wont stay clear
When I think of those happier times
Do you ever recall these old memories at all
Or do I ever cross your mind
Do you ever think back on old memories like that
Or do I ever cross your mind
song performed by by Randy Travis
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Creation of the Moon
The man cut his throat and left his head there.
The others went to get it.
When they got there they put the head in a sack.
Farther on the head fell out onto the ground.
They put the head back in the sack.
Farther on the head fell out again.
Around the first sack they put a second one that
was thicker.
But the head fell out just the same.
It should be explained that they were taking the head
to show to the others.
They did not put the head back in the sack.
They left it in the middle of the road.
They went away.
They crossed the river.
But the head followed them.
They climbed up a tree full of fruit
to see whether it would go past.
The head stopped at the foot of the tree
and asked them for some fruit.
So the men shook the tree.
The head went to get the fruit.
Then it asked for some more.
So the men shook the tree
so that the fruit fell into the water.
The head said it couldn't get the fruit from there.
So the men threw the fruit a long way
to make the head go a long way to get it so they could go.
While the head was getting the fruit
the men got down from the tree and went on.
The head came back and looked at the tree
and didn't see anybody
so went on rolling down the road.
The men had stopped to wait
to see whether the head would follow them.
They saw the head come rolling.
They ran.
They got to their hut they told the others that the head
was rolling after them and to shut the door.
All the huts were closed tight.
When it got there the head commanded them to open the doors.
The owners would not open them because they were afraid.
So the head started to think what it would turn into.
If it turned into water they would drink it.
If it turned into earth they would walk on it.
If it turned into a house they would live in it.
If it turned into a steer they would kill it and eat it.
If it turned into a cow they would milk it.
If it turned into a bean they would cook it.
If it turned into the sun
When men were cold it would heat them.
If it turned into rain the grass would grow and the
animals would crop it.
So it thought, and it said, "I will turn into the moon."
It called, "Open the doors, I want to get my things."
They would not open them.
The head cried. It called out, "At least give me
my two balls of twine."
They threw out the two balls of twine through a hole.
It took them and threw them into the sky.
It asked them to throw it a little stick too
to roll the thread around so it could climb up.
Then it said, "I can climb, I am going to the sky."
It started to climb.
The men opened the doors right away.
The head went on climbing.
The men shouted, "You going to the sky, head?"
It didn't answer.
As soon as it got to the Sun
it turned into the Moon.
Toward evening the Moon was white, it was beautiful.
And the men were surprised
to see that the head had turned into the Moon.
Excerpt From Lamplight Symphony
On a winter's night, stars are cold and bright in the sky,
The slumber of the earth is pure and deep
From a distant wood, drifts the echo of a beast
The old man stirs and wakens in the night
He stands before his window gazing at the grave
Forgotten dreams are flashing through his weary mind
And though his life is empty, he pretends that she's still there
With hunger in his soul, he yearns for life and love gone by,
With memories his one and only joy
All he has to give, he would give to bring back the life,
And raise the one who lies beneath the snow
He lights a lamp and looks at pictures of the past
The faces of their youth still glow with new-found love,
But the picture's faded, and time has stolen youth away
With a spoken word that he thought he heard from her lips,
He felt another presence in the room,
He was filled with fear but filled with joy he arose
And turned to face the image that he knew
She stood before him and her hand reached out for his
A peaceful light shone in her eyes
She said she'd come to soothe him, and someday they'd be as one
She began to fade and her image disappeared,
So he was left alone to face the night,
Never in his life, had he been so held in awe,
As he faced the apparition of his wife
He stood before the window gazing at the grave,
And with a lightened heart he saw the first of dawn,
He knew that she was waiting, that someday they'd be as one
song performed by by Kansas
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lamplight Symphony
On a winter's night, stars are cold and bright in the sky,
The slumber of the earth is pure and deep
From a distant wood, drifts the echo of a beast
The old man stirs and wakens in the night
He stands before his window gazing at the grave
Forgotten dreams are flashing through his weary mind
And though his life is empty, he pretends that she's still there
With hunger in his soul, he yearns for life and love gone by,
With memories his one and only joy
All he has to give, he would give to bring back the life,
And raise the one who lies beneath the snow
He lights a lamp and looks at pictures of the past
The faces of their youth still glow with new-found love,
But the picture's faded, and time has stolen youth away
With a spoken word that he thought he heard from her lips,
He felt another presence in the room,
He was filled with fear but filled with joy he arose
And turned to face the image that he knew
She stood before him and her hand reached out for his
A peaceful light shone in her eyes
She said she'd come to soothe him, and someday they'd be as one
She began to fade and her image disappeared,
So he was left alone to face the night,
Never in his life, had he been so held in awe,
As he faced the apparition of his wife
He stood before the window gazing at the grave,
And with a lightened heart he saw the first of dawn,
He knew that she was waiting, that someday they'd be as one
song performed by by Kansas
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Find Your Way Back
You know its been a long long road
Since I packed up and left on my own
And I can carry a heavy load
Just try n get back to her heart
I sure aint got no home
I seem to find love where I ramble
And when its time to go
I hear that voice again, say n
Chorus:
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Leave a message with the rain
You can find me where the wind blows
The snow across the pain
And the frost upon the heart
You got no place to be
Still you wonder where youre goin
And why I had to leave
I hear a voice and it says to me
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
To her heart, cmon
I know its too late now
But I wish I could go back in time
And start all over somehow
And get it right from the start
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Find your way back (find your way back) find your way back
Find your way back (find your way back) find your way back
Find your way back (find your way back) find your way back
Find your way back (find your way back) find your way back...
song performed by by Starship
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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