Verdict

The kitchen clock is chewing up the grey
Your winter coat is hanging by the stair
I watched you wash the stubborn grief away
And comb the tangled city from your hair
My boots are heavy with the gravel road
Still trying not to drop the holy load

The refrigerator shudders into gear
The floorboards ache beneath my crooked weight
I spent ten winters running off on fear
And calling every selfish instinct fate
I bought the ticket for the midnight train
And left the window open to the rain

Your collarbone is pale against the blue
A line of wire strung between two fires
I have no miracles to bring to you
No silver speeches left for my desires

The padlock rusts, the latch begins to give
The dying part was easier to live

I came to love you with empty hands, but I kept my fists closed anyway
I wanted grace like a sudden flash, but grace only asks you to stay
Wash out the borders I drew in salt, give back the blood to the sea
If love is a verdict that tears through flesh, then let it begin in me

A sparrow hammers at the gutter zinc
You shift your shoulder in the waking bed
There is no poison left for me to drink
No clever ambush lurking in my head

I lay my key upon the wooden stand
And reach across the cold sheets for your hand

I came to love you with empty hands, but I kept my fists closed anyway
I wanted grace like a sudden flash, but grace only asks you to stay
Wash out the borders I drew in salt, give back the blood to the sea
If love is a verdict that tears through flesh, then let it begin in me

I came to love you with empty hands, but I kept my fists closed anyway
I wanted grace like a sudden flash, but grace only asks you to stay
Wash out the borders I drew in salt, give back the blood to the sea
If love is a verdict that tears through flesh, then let it begin in me