If only I could go back in time
I'd find you during your deepest dreams
lay my bones beside you, pull up the covers,
kiss you on the cheeks and stroke your hair.
I'd keep you company till the morning light
to reassure you
your time will come,
the time when you won't feel out of place
in your own skin.
If only I could go back in time
I'd find you while you were rocking yourself to sleep
with tears in your eyes
crying about the times you stumbled and fell
grieving over lost friendships
and the family wounds you couldn't cure with good intentions.
If only time did not separate us,
I'd tell you a secret it took me years to find
how you'll become exactly what you want
the moment you stop following their rules
the moment you start making your own.
If only I could go back in time, hold you in my arms
appreciate every part of you,
flaws and virtues, hatreds and devotions,
and whisper in your ear what you needed so desperately to hear
from someone else -
girl, you are worthy.
Girl, be patient
you'll learn everything you need to know
and everywhere you want to go
to feel the warm streets of Greece and Mexico
you'll be there at the right time,
when you learn you don't have to live to please
after you learn
you don't have to be good enough for everyone
you just have to be enough
for the right person
and that's you.
If only I could go back in time
I'd grab your hands with mine,
hands that were so young
yet so tired of holding on to everything
to say that it is okay to let things go
it's okay,
people leave
bad things happen unexpectedly
there's no stopping it, but it is liberating
to let it go
you'll feel awfully better
when you drop the weight of the world off of your shoulders.
If only I could fade into sleep tonight and find you in my dreams
to comfort your restless heart
all the scars that turned out to be lessons
the greatest teachers we've found in our path
I'd tell you stop regretting them, please
simply learn from them.
And you cry, and I know it hurts
some feelings don't fit in your chest,
let them drown you
but I assure you, even if it takes you two, three, four or five times
to learn from the same mistakes, it is okay
anyway,
you should walk, run, dance, breathe and be
at your own pace.
But always keep moving forward.
If only I could go back in time
I'd tell you all the clichés you have already heard
but so far haven't learned on your own
the routes we crossed
the times we fell
but stood up again.
We are so much more resilient than you think.
You are stronger than you could possibly know now
and the times you suffer are paving you
to what's yet to come.
If only I could go back in time
I'd find you during your deepest dreams
lay my bones beside you, pull up the covers,
kiss you on the cheeks and stroke your hair.
I'd keep you company till the morning light
to reassure you that
your time will come,
the time when you won't feel out of place
in your own skin.
