I Can't Live Without My Mother's Love

I can live with the sky falling out from above
I can live with your scorn, your sourness, your smug
I can live growing old alone if push comes to shove
But I can't live without my mother's love.

I can live flying around at an impossible pace
I can live with the bad etiquette that's fallen on this place
I can live with anything you got to throw in my face
But I can't live without my mother's embrace.

My mother is seventy-five
She's the closest friend I have in my life
Take her from me, I'll break down and bawl
And wither away like old leaves in the fall.

You can be cruel all you want, talk bad on my brothers
Shoot me full of holes and I won't be bothered
Judge me for my ways and my slew of ex-lovers
But don't ever dare say a bad word about my mother.

When she's gone, I'll miss our slow easy walks
Playing Scrabble with the chimes of the grandfather clock
I'll even miss the times that we fought
But mostly I'll miss being able to call her and talk.

I can live without watching the classical fights
I can live without a lover beside me at night
I can live without what you might call a charmed life
But I can't live without my mother providing her light.

My mother is seventy-five
One day she won't be here to hear me cry
When the day comes for her to let go
I'll die off like a lemon tree in the snow
When the day comes for her to leave
I won't have the courage to sort through her things
With my sisters and all our memories
I cannot bear all the pain it will bring.