The Mark Learns the Tide

Lyrics

[Mood: strange, watchful, chamber-gloom] [Energy: restrained pulse, slow return]

[Intro | solo felt piano | close room | no drums]
There is a mark on the wall
And it will not become a sign
I keep the lamp low
I give it time

[Verse 1 | close high vocal | piano pulse]
Small as a seed
Dark as a thought
Nothing to read
Nothing I bought

Still it keeps
Still it stays
Still it opens
Weather in place

[Refrain | soft harmony shadow]
Whirl up slow
Do not break
Tide in the plaster
Pine in the wake

[Verse 2 | more spoken | sparse chamber strings]
I climbed on the chair
And made it dust
I came back down
And learned to trust

Some things shrink
Under the hand
Some things need
The room to stand

[Pre-Chorus | breath opens | no lift yet]
If I name it too soon
I lose what it made
If I call it a door
The door goes away

[Chorus | fragile lift | restrained | no drums]
So I will guard the mark
I will not ask why
I will let the small dark
Teach the wall the tide

I will keep the cup near
I will keep the lamp kind
I will let the room hear
What the morning hides

[Instrumental Turn | felt piano | low cello | pale vocal hum]

[Bridge | almost whispered | air around the voice]
Not a wound
Not a word
Not a message
Not a bird

Only pressure
Only grain
Only weather
Learning my name

[Final Chorus | warmer but still held back]
So I will guard the mark
I will not ask why
I will let the small dark
Teach the wall the tide

I will keep the cup near
I will keep the lamp kind
I will let the room hear
What the morning hides

[Outro | piano slows | voice fades into hum]
There is a mark on the wall
And it will not become a sign
I keep the lamp low
I give it time