Long Way Around

I misplaced my love
and I went out to try to find it
somewhere out among
the lost and found
in a land where reality
is never what it seems to be
I had to go the long
way around

I almost thought i saw it
underneath the overpass
with a bundle up of blankets
and a tent
but by the time I got there
it had gone to other places
and nobody could tell me
where it went

so I sent out a search party
good at what they did
scouring the
countryside for clues
but they came back empty handed
and what was I to do
I was left with
just an empty pair of shoes

so I put up posters
on all the public surfaces
in a radius of miles
around the town
I used that picture of you in Ireland
so high above the ocean
in the days before
the world turned around

in the midnight I went walking
with my hands inside my pockets
with my head out in the wind
to keep it clear
till I met an old woman
who asked what I was looking for
and told me I would
never find it here

I dug into a cul de sac
and took a cheap motel room
somewhere out along the
wounded mile
and when I went to wash my face
I looked into the mirror
said “how ya doin’
I ain’t seen you in a while”

my coat was full of empties
and my shoes were full of broken
and my dreams were all
wrung out to dry
so I took a chance to go back
to where it started
to find out if it still
was worth a try

and I stood above the ocean just
like the way that you did
on the day before the world
went too far
why do we always
have to get lost
before we can find out
where we are

finally I found that
my love was still inside me
that it had been there
all along
so now I’m trying to find you
to tell you the news
sorry that it took me
so long

so if you get this letter
if you ever hear my story
please don’t misinterpret
my intent
all that really matters is to
find what’s been lost
it doesn’t really matter
where it went