Maybe Next Year

When I was young, they held my little hands
Walked me to school through morning's golden lands
Grandpa would smile, and Grandma waved goodbye
Promise in their eyes beneath the autumn sky

Back then the world was slow enough to stay
And love was found in ordinary days
I thought forever waited down the line
That there'd be endless roads and endless time

At fifteen years, I chased the future's call
Through crowded halls and writing on the walls
Then college came with dreams too big to see
And work arrived demanding all of me

Next week I'll go: I'd whisper to the rain
But next week turned to seasons once again
The clock kept running faster every year
And all my tomorrows disappeared

The road gets longer when you're standing still
You trade your heart to chase another hill
And every promise left for someday soon
Can vanish softly like a fading Moon

Maybe next year I'll drive that old dirt lane
Knock on the door and hear my name again
Sit by the fire where all our stories grew
And tell them all the things I meant to

But time rolls on like rivers to the sea
And waits for no one, not for you or me
Don't leave your love for skies that may not clear
'Cause maybe next year never gets here

Never gets here

Then forty-five came knocking at my door
And they were waiting there no more
The house stood still, but silence filled the room
Like winter settling far too soon

Their pictures watched me from the dusty frame
And every smile was calling out my name
I spoke to shadows, wishing they could hear
The words I should've said when they were here

Now seventy years are resting on my face
And all the miles can't take me back that place
I crossed the world and wore ambition's crown
But all I built came crashing down

The medals rust, the papers fade away
The trips become forgotten yesterdays
And all that matters when the daylight ends
Are the hearts we held, the love we send

The hands that loved you won't forever stay
No borrowed time can buy another day
The truest Mark a soul will ever leave
Is love that lingers when we have to leave

Maybe next year I'll drive that old dirt lane
Knock on the door and hear my name again
Sit by the fire where all our stories grew
And tell them all the things I meant to

But time rolls on like rivers to the sea
And waits for no one, not for you or me
Don't leave your love for skies that may not clear
'Cause maybe next year never gets here

So if there's someone waiting in your mind
Don't trust tomorrow to be kind
The words unsaid can turn to endless ache
And some embraces come too late

Maybe this moment is all that we own
The only field we'll ever call our home
So hold them close before the seasons veer
And speak your love while they can hear

Time leaves traces written in the soul
Not in the dreams we never got to hold
The only wealth that follows when we disappear
Is the love we leave behind us here

Don't wait for someday shining down the line
The stars don't promise one more night of time
The footprints fading tell us loud and clear
That maybe next year never gets here

Never gets here