Way It Is, Way It Could Be

You look small in your coat
One hand up on the window
So long now, you'd been lost in thought

No snow on the road
We'd been lucky and it looked like
We would be well past Orleans

And past Montmagny
The road giving way to river
The frozen Saint Lawrence white and blue

We went out on the ice
And I turned back to you
A figure distant and small in the long view

Was it the look in your eye? I wasn't sure
The way it is and the way it could be both are
We got back in the car

You always tell me the truth
Even when it hurts me it hurts you
Could you go a little easy? Would it kill you?

Living out the dream
Out on the road now for a couple weeks
So intimate with all that we had wanted
All that we hoped for
And all that we dreamed
The way it is and the way it could be

But how long is it going to go on?
I'm gonna count on
I'm gonna hold out for nothing much
A little kindness
A little praise some days
I get so close, but I don't really touch
What I get, what I need
The way it is, the way it could be

Two brown dogs came out running cross the highway
Panting and low to the ground
And then they were gone
For a moment, I had run them down
I closed and opened my eyes
They were running up the hill on the other side
The way it is and the way it could be
Both are