Between the City and the Sea

The traffic crawls along the avenue
You left your keys beside the telephone
This grid of steel was good enough for you
Until the water called you back alone

The tide does not apologize to stone
It takes the pier and pulls the harbor down
You locked the doors to build a heavy throne
And now you think you have to save this town

Between the city and the roaring sea
We swore that one of us would hold the line
You want the anchor, I just want the free
And both of us are running out of time

There is no mercy in an open bay
Out there the wind forgets your little name
I paved the street so you could walk away
You call it prison, but you lit the flame

A paved horizon never leaves the ground
You breathe the smoke and say that you are whole
I hear the deep and terrifying sound
Of cold black water rising for your soul

Between the city and the roaring sea
We swore that one of us would hold the line
You want the anchor, I just want the free
And both of us are running out of time

The neon flickers in the autumn rain
I kept the lights on so you'd see the shore
I never wanted you to bear my pain
I only wanted you to close the door
I never left because I hated home
I left because you never asked to come
I chose the drowning in the bitter foam
Because your quiet city made me numb

Between the city and the roaring sea
We swore that one of us would hold the line
You want the anchor, I just want the free
And both of us are running out of time