1st Place Winner, May/June 2015 Contest: “Marriage Ain’t The End of Being Lonely”

1st Place
“Marriage Ain’t The End of Being Lonely”
Emily Robinson
Chattanooga, Tennessee

Spotlight Q&A

I thought I fell in love when I was eighteen
With you cruisin’ Main Street lookin’ for our lives
We had bigger plans than stayin’ there in Jackson
Come summertime I made a pretty bride
We got married in the Baptist church on State Street
No daddy there to walk me down the aisle
My Mama never could pin down a good man
So I swore to God that we would do things right
But marriage ain’t the end of bein’ lonely
Sometimes it feels like it’s the start

‘Cause the years keep rollin’ on
And all I know for sure
Is there’s so many little ways to break a heart
Well our demons didn’t take too long to show up
Turns out when I drink I like to fight
Then you’d leave the house and wouldn’t tell me
Where you went to ease your sorrows late at night
We fought for three whole days when I got pregnant
Where I disappeared to no one knew
When I came home I carried myself different
It was all the growin’ up I had to do

‘Cause marriage ain’t the end of bein’ lonely
Sometimes it feels like it’s the start
‘Cause the years keep rollin’ on
And all I know for sure
Is there’s so many ways your world can fall apart

We can’t hide our claws, our teeth, our anger
The fire’s hot and this could last all night
The air is thick with things we haven’t said yet
But we’re savin’ them for when they burn just right
And I hang on to suffering like it’s a winning hand
Waiting my turn to cash it all in
How we stayed together I’ll never understand
Somedays I think that God is up there laughin’ at my plans

‘Cause marriage ain’t the end of bein’ lonely
Sometimes it feels like it’s the start
‘Cause the years keep rollin’ on
And all I know for sure
Is there’s so many little ways to break a heart
Oh the years keep rollin’ on
And all I know for sure
Is there’s so many ways that we just fell apart