The Old Ceremony Day That I Was Born lyrics

I could let go of the wheel tonight
and surrender to the gears and the motors I
have set all in motion until they find
a splintery bed on which to lie

I could almost smell your hair tonight
and the hypnotic poisonous dandelion
I watered and set you out in the sun
but you closed your petals to everyone

we built a rickety bridge of sighs
and we nestled and watched as the rivers rise
for every new creature and old one dies
and washes out into the foamy skies

you knew the poetry
I just knew the poem
you woke up next to me
the day that I was born

I held a robin up to my chest
but its heart beat so loud out of fear I guess

so I let it go, a lesson learned
now I haunt my window for its return

we treaded water in greens and blues
and you clung to my neck
as if you knew
that we'd watch this scene from a basement wall
as our faces would stutter and rise and fall

you knew the poetry
I just knew the poem
you woke up next to me
the day that I was born

there's only so much that I can say
without stealing the words from your dog-eared pages
for i've only started to bend my spines
the ghosts of your fingertips haunt my lines