Monkey Bars

Do you see them

from the corner of your eye?

Those kids running around

hands raised to the sky

I remember when our biggest fear was the monkey bars

We would climb to the top

and push each other off

I guess they took our childhood in the divorce

Now that the grandfather clock has turned its course

And snatched us away to something else

I wonder if you all remember how it felt

Well I guess I’m the odd girl out now

Everyone else grew up

But I didn’t really know how

All those days by the pool

We didn’t know back then that the world was cruel

Fruit salad and mint tea always remind me of you

But the clock ticks on

And there’s not anything I can do

I guess I’m in mourning

for those early mornings

When we were giggling

and barely awake

Sometimes it’s too much to take

I guess they took our childhood in the divorce

Now that the grandfather clock has turned its course

And snatched us away to something else

I wonder if you all remember how it felt

Guess I’m the odd girl out now

Everyone else grew up

But I didn’t really know how

Well now everything’s shifting into place

I guess we won’t see each other anymore

After all those nights

spent sleeping on my living room floor

And to think ten years from now

One of you might pick up the phone and think to ask how

ask how we got to be this way

Or maybe ask why things couldn’t stay

the way they were

When we’d build forts in the backyard

and spy on the neighbor

Do you see them

from the corner of your eye?

Those kids running around

hands raised to the sky

I remember when our biggest fear was the monkey bars

We would climb to the top

and push each other off

I guess they took our childhood in the divorce

Now that the grandfather clock has turned its course

And snatched us away to something else

I wonder if you all remember how it felt

Well I guess I’m the odd girl out now

Everyone else grew up

But I didn’t really know how

All those days by the pool

We didn’t know back then that the world was cruel

Fruit salad and mint tea always remind me of you

But the clock ticks on

And there’s not anything I can do

Now that I’m the odd girl out

I never really know what to say what to do

I’m the odd girl out

Now I know that people change

that nothing can stay the same

And the fall from the monkey bars will never again seem a great pain

Now that I am the odd girl out

Now that I am mourning for all those early mornings

We were laughing,

Barely awake

Now that it’s all too much to take

I think the monkey bars are mourning too

I think they miss the old me and the young all of you

I think they’re telling our silly stories

To all the little kids, who’ve yet to go boring

The pirates, the vampires, the ghosts and the spies

What we once called games, we now call lies

I think our childhood is over now

Cause you’ve all grown up

And I think I’ve learned how

So why am I still the odd girl out?

I don’t wanna be the odd girl out

Cause I was ignored long before the divorce

But I wasn’t the odd girl out on the monkey bars

I guess that’s why it feels so hard to let go

But now the grandfather clock has turned its course

And never again will I know

The sound of laughter and the smell of chlorine

Crying cause of a skinned knee

And a hand reaching down to pull me back up

Up to the top of the monkey bars

Before we knew life would be so hard

I was happy with you on the monkey bars