You Learn to Live Without

You learn to take your coffee black

You learn to drink your whiskey neat

You learn to take the shower cold

And sleep on tired feetYou learn to order dinner in

You learn to send the laundry out

You learn how to amuse yourself

You learn to live withoutYou tell yourself you're rich at last

In money, and in time

You draw bath and then unplug the phone

You pour yourself a pinot, Clos Du Val, two thousand three

You sit a spell, a queen upon her throne

You go to bed aloneYou learn to fall asleep alone

You learn to silence ticking clocks

You learn to pull the shades at night

And double-check the locksYou learn to speak so calmly when

Your heart would like to scream and shout

You learn to stop, and breathe, and smile

You learn to live withoutYou find the coat and tie you thought you'd given to Goodwill

You toss his fav'rite shoes onto the pile

You see him in the faces of the boys he left behind

And die a bit with ev'ry tiny smile

But only for a whileYou learn to count the quiet wins

An hour with no unprompted tears

And not to count the deadly days

As they fade into yearsYou learn to stand alone at last

So brave, and bold, and strong, and stout

You learn somehow to like the dark

And even love the doubt

You learn to hold your life inside you

And never let it out

You learn to live and die

And then to live

You learn to live without

You learn to live without

You learn to live without