Can't Love a Smile

You know I want to
I really do
But I can't love a smile

I want to pick you up
And swing you around
Watch your joy
Spread across the blue
Behind you clouds
Looking like bunnies and snowballs
And a proud sensation
Of accomplishment
At claiming you for my own

But it's a smile
It's just a smile
And I can't love a smile

I could love stability
Or sensitivity
Or trust
But I just can't love a smile

I could imagine
Driving our kids to school one day
Or baking birthday cakes
For years to come
But sometime I'm going to have accept
The rejection of those notions
Because the emotions I'm painting
Can't be seen on a black canvas

Imagine all the fantasies
I could amass if I let myself
Go there

The smile you're wearing
Has pushed open more doors for you
Than I would think teeth and lips could
Should I be just another door
Willingly ajar and available
Ready and scar and wound
For charm and spontaneity?

I thought I had you
Wrap my hands around your waist
But as soon as I pulled them away
You were gone
And all that was left
Was your smile

So what could I do?

I could cherish that smile
I could pick it up
And carry it around
And call it mine
And have everything
Be fine

I want to, you know
I really do
But I can't love you
And I can't love a smile