Alice & Norm

Alice and Norm lived for so long In a house at the top of the hill Kids in the grass, wine in a glass Roses on each windowsill But kids grow up fast, life takes a seat Like the sun giving way to the moon From pain in your bones to selling your home It washes away all too soon Now Alice, she lives on the 2 nd floor hall Where each day’s the same as the next Simple white room, stale perfume Gift bags that wait on the desk Norm comes to visit each day and each night To feed her and read her the news Pours her those pills against his own will Sneaks her a Charleston Chew He still remembers the look in her eyes On cold Christmas mornings and 4 th of July’s When love was still aflame He remembers the way they would laugh, the way that they cried The day their first daughter said her first goodbye But nothing stays the same And Alice can hardly remember his name Alice and Norm met in the fall Right after the Second World War He’d just gotten back, still finding his track When he saw her walk through the door Pale blue dress, dirty blonde hair The promise she held in her smile He coupled with chance and asked her to dance In a year they would walk down the aisle And he still remembers the scent of her skin In that ancient motel where the walls were so thin And love was still aflame He remembers the way they would walk in the hot August sun Talk over dinner when the day’s work was done But nothing stayed the same And Alice can hardly remember his name Alice and Norm, silent and still Nurse says; “it’s time to go home” He lifts up his bag, rips off his tag Prepares for the long ride alone And as he stands at her bedside watching her sleep He just wishes for one thing, something to keep Instead of all this pain Aw, but he’ll keep on returning with hope in his heart For those days that she wakes up and sees through the dark And everything’s the same For those days that she smiles and says his name For the days that Alice remembers