There’s a hurt inside me that’s grown throughout the years.
It’s presence grows stronger when a photo stirs empty tears.
Often I find myself wondering whether that moment was right
to protect my heart from further hurt and bidding you goodbye.

If I could turn back time, I’d move the hands to that moment
before we even met...before we’d ever come to know regret.
I’d just become that stranger you wouldn’t give another glance.
If I could turn back time, I'd not have given us that first chance.

And we would have missed that moment fishing a quiet lake.
We would have missed those times before a heart breaks.
I would have never found myself laughing as I did back then
but if I could turn back time...we wouldn’t be in this "when."

First Christmas spent under a Christmas tree barely a branch
in that tiny house...life was just left to pure chance.
You set the stove on fire...not gas, but an electric range.
Everything was simple and it seemed that nothing would change.

But the world changed around us with terror and alerts
and we found ourselves submerged into deeper hurts.
We built a new house in a new town...things were taking hold
But time kept on growing and embittered both of our souls.

If I could turn back time, I’d move the hands to that moment
before we even met...before we’d ever come to know regret.
I wouldn’t have smiled back, I wouldn’t have let you in.
If I could turn back time, I wouldn’t live that moment again.

If I could turn back time, I would save us both the pain.
I wouldn’t chose to live this life...not over again.
Yes, if I could turn back time...we would never have met.
If I could turn back time, then we could each forget.

Now, life’s moved on thrice more around the sun.
We are both in new lives...things barely just begun.
Was this current life worth the pain of a broken heart?
I’m so afraid of failing, that I’ve doomed this new start.

All I can envision, is that this new heart will up and leave.
Finding comfort in fleeting shadows is enough to grieve.
I’m so afraid of being alone, monsters live within my mind.
They do not show me the tomorrows, only the days now behind.

If I could turn back time, I’d move the hands to that moment
before we even met...before we’d ever come to know regret.
I would have kept to myself and just passed you on by.
If I could turn back time...we would never need to cry.

If I could turn back time...If I could just turn back time.
There would never be an argument over "yours and mine."
If I could turn back time, you would have never known my name.
If I could turn back time...we wouldn’t now live on in pain.

If I could turn back...

©April 1, 2008 Lori S. Maynard