There's a fantasy we all share
You know the one I'm talking about
The one where real life doesn't exist
Where cancer evaporates like water
And where anguish isn't even a word

It's the one where she leaves her husband for you
Just because you've loved her now for years
It's the one where your children
See a father that isn't battered and broken down

It's the one where instead of missing the subway
You made it in the nick of time
And the man of your dreams sat right across from you
Reading the Wall Street Journal
And half-smiling the way you've always dreamed he would

It's the one where shadows are empty threats
And the long register of mistakes I've made
Are just pieces of crumpled paper
Discarded on an old, wooden, floor