If I Had Known - Greg Brown
A little creek you could spit
across
Jimmy and me each took one more toss
our spinners bright in the evening air
People always said, There ain't no fish in there
Well grownups they ain't always right
Jimmy and me walked home slow that night
right down Main Street in our P.F. Fliers
with two 5 lb. bass making grown men liars
Jimmy if I had known--
I might have stopped fishing right then
It's just as well we don't know
when things will never be that good again
A hayride on an Autumn night
Well we was 15 if I remember right
We were far apart at the start of the ride
but somehow we ended up side by side
We hit a bump and she grabbed my arm
The night was as cold as her lips were warm
I shivered as her hand held mine
And then I kissed her one more time
And Jane if I had known--
I might have stopped kissing right then
It's just as well we don't know
when things will never be that good again
She was older than me I guess
Summer was invented for her to wear that dress
I knew about risk and she knew about proof
and that night she took me up on the roof
We could see the lights of the little towns
We could watch the August stars come down
Shooting stars, meteorites--
we went on a ride through the sky that night
And, oh, if I had known--
I'd do it all over again
Some things just get better and better
and better than they've already been