empty swing at manitou park

it's as if you suddenly don't see me, when i'm standing right in front of you.

i can tell you're scared by the way you look me straight in the eyes, exuding all the confidence in the world.
trust me, i've been there before.

totally desensitized to the fact that the people who were supposed to be closest to you have completely abandoned you. you put up a pretty good front, too- acting like it doesn't faze you or like you're not all pulp rather than calloused.
trust me, i've been there before.

but see, there's something different about you than the average insecure, lost and pitifully searching for love. your mask consists of this forced confidence and resistance to pain.
trust me, i've been there before.

and here is what will happen next. see, eventually you will run into a situation that will hit you with such a full force, and it will finally make you search in a frenzy for the feeling you locked away so long ago. for the first time you will want to be free to let go, to be exposed in front of the people you convinced to see you as invincible. well, here you are, wanting so badly to partake in the beautiful emotion of pain because it's the only way you would ever dream of reacting, and inside your heart simply cannot justify opening the floodgates because to reason doesn't fall in the list of exceptions. it would help if there were such a list.
it's ok, pretty girl, i've been there too.

you can't see me, i know. and whether my words go in and out, you heard them once. i know no one ever showed you the love you deserve or taught you that love is not measured how it is given, but embraced. the pulp that you try and pass off as your heart has to be tired.
trust me, i've been there before.

while your heart rips to shreds, you are convinced it is growing stronger because you feel less. without nerves it would be had to feel anything, i suppose. maybe it's because the pain is drowned out by each hand clinching so tightly to the ends of metal stakes driven firmly into the solid ground. is that where you find your stability? it was where i found mine. when u slip, pretty girl, the stakes drive further into your hands. It’s crippling you, not holding you still.
trust me, i've been there before.

trust me, before you can say the same.