Maybe Now edit 3

[Todd]

Hi CRNDLSM,

I may be the wrong person to read this poem because I keep wanting to make savage cuts. That may not be fair to your style. So, let me lay out what I'm thinking.

I've seen so many things:
a mother's eyes as she sings.
Her baby smiles because she knows
how much her mother loves her.

I've seen so many things:--This repeated refrain may not buy you much. I'd be tempted to cut it from S2
a lovers heart wrapped in a ring.
When she sings, her soul wrings
on bended knees

I heard a little bird crying--Now you've moved away from what you've seen to something you've heard. Maybe keep the structure deliberately ("I've heard too much: "a little bird crying" 
so loud it filled the whole earth.
When it stopped I tossed and turned.
It seemed absurd, no one else had stirred.--I'm not sure how I feel about the internal rhyme but I do think this strophe is the most powerful in the poem. This is the epiphany, the moment that the speaker cannot un-hear or un-see.

Maybe now, we can all 
go out and get along 
with someone else we don't know
without the conflict of interest
in being ourselves.  It won't hurt.
Maybe an apple a day 
will keep you healthy for a while.
Maybe a walk in the morning 
would be a good start,
but for someone to tell you they love you...
well, that will give you that smile
that you wear so beautiful.
Something as strong as that can easily
rip you apart. But, put back together,
will be stronger than ever before--Feels like you need a "you' to open this line
in your heart.

The suggested long cut feels too meandering to me.

Just some thoughts to consider.

Best,

Todd