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