You Run Away (for James) by Sarah Kernochan

Written for James, my great and complicated love. Verse 1: period of courtship. Verse 2: marriage. Verse 3: old age.

Every time you run away
It's a holiday
And I can go out and play
I'll have a drink
I'll have two
And I'll charge them all to you
I'll close down the place
Get pitched out on my face
I'll wake up next to some snoring guy
In a condo in the sky
An open window, a great view
If you were walking below I could land on you
These are the stories that clutter my head
As you leave our bed
I don't know why I stay
Whenever you run away

When you're home I run away
To a small chalet
Inside a room with no door
In a matchbox in the drawer
There's a tiny TV and little books to read
A baby piano with nano-keys
I've got everything I need
And then the weather howls around
And all the lines are down
If you call me, the wind just blows
If you shake me, it snows
These are the puzzles I leave to you
As I fade from view
I don't know why you stay
Whenever I run away

Your heart is mine I suppose
And it's open as far as it goes

Years will pass and comes the day
We are old and gray
And I'm a turtle on my back
And your train has jumped the track
Age takes you unawares
You fall asleep in chairs
The sap is running, the bulls are running
But you need help gettin' down the stairs
And my wits will have went
I won't even know who's president
This part we never rehearsed
But the game is still who goes first
This is the time we come face to face
In a strange dim place
Don't close your eyes on that day
Baby don't be sliding away
You know it ain't fair play
To run away

My heart is yours, heaven knows
And it's open as far as it goes