Outside it’s steadily misting/
An ever-present gray/
A lighter shade of the black I’ve felt/
Since you went away

My legs hunger for walking/
I dodge cabs and city birds/
If my tears could write a book/
It’d be a million words

You were so new, so helpless/
Clinging to a fragile rope/
I wanted to protect you/
I failed you and my hope

I walk by shops dressed for Christmas/
A season of joy and light/
But what about those among us/
Who feel no such respite?

A man huddles on the corner/
Of 3rd Ave and 86th Street/
A white dog in his grocery cart/
Puddles at his feet

He asks me for a dollar/
I’d like to give him more/
Shoppers hustle past with groceries/
There are many ways to be poor

He looks at me and knows/
We both thirst for a drink/
Thirst to melt into the concrete/
Thirst to sink and sink and sink

I’m sorry I couldn’t help you/
Find your way to a warm room/
Where bright lights outshine/
This creeping winter gloom

I’m sorry things were so wrong/
From the very start/
I’m sorry when I take a breath/
It no longer feeds your heart

I’m sorry I lost my innocence/
I’m sorry I lost my way/
But most of all I’m sorry/
That you couldn’t stay