Only Me

I've tried to be so many men
While married to a single wife,
I can't recall who I was when
I stood and pledged to you my life.
Of all the men I've lived to be,
The man you wed was only me.

I've been a leader, been a friend,
Have played the hero and the foe.
I've been a preacher, steeped in sin,
Been searching more than most could know
To find the man I'm called to be.
With only you, I'm only me.

I've sang and played upon the stage,
I've written with a poet's pen,
I've worked to earn our living wage,
I've failed and won and failed again.
No matter what I've done, you see
Beyond the act to only me.

I set my heart on foreign lands;
Some better future, brighter dawn.
But you can't follow where I am,
Beyond the map our lives have drawn.
Wherever else I strive to be,
You call me back to only me.

I often felt you failed to find
The virtue in my dreams on clouds.
The gifts of man I sought on high,
But you knew love lives on the ground.
This gift you give I now receive
And climb back down as only me.

For I had held those dreams so dear
To know my life was not in vain.
To be forgotten is a fear,
But you have taken my own name.
With you alone it's safe to be
Unknown, and no-one, only me.

So after all my hopes are spent,
There is a true joy that remains.
With curtains of illusion rent,
The simple sight of love is plain.
And after all, I'm glad to be
With only you as only me.