The night that you were suffering across the room from me

 

Tried to find you but it was too dark for me to see

 

When I looked into your eyes darkness was there too

 

And after months of wondering all at once I knew

 

The summer of my seventh year they tore the old home down

 

Razed the pines and muscadines and burned it to the ground

 

I’d take off my socks and shoes beside the new road there

 

And walk the burning pavement for as long as I could bear

 

O when I was a child

 

I was not much of a child

 

O when I was a child

 

I was not much of a child

 

You might not believe it but I see you now and then

 

In passing cars and markets and the arms of other men

 

Laughing like I saw you laugh a thousand times before

 

When nothing’s really funny but you can’t cry anymore

​
 

Summers come and go a little faster every year

 

I’ve put more behind me now that I will see appear

 

And I’ve forgotten more than there is left for me to learn

 

But I’m not likely to forget your promise to return

 

O when I was a child

 

I was not much of a child

 

O when I was a child

 

I was not much of a child

 

Last night as I lay suffering I saw you plain as day

 

I asked you to stop a while, you said you could not stay

 

And as I looked into your eyes you said I should come too

 

And after years of wondering all at once I knew