The Surface That Holds

Verse 1

The floor remembers every path The one that was laid out The one I made by going Where the grid forgot about The linoleum is worn Where the weight always lands The diagonal to the door Is the shape of my grandmother's hands

Chorus

I am the surface that holds I am the surface that holds Not the room - the wall Not the door - the frame Not the memory - the name Pressed into the grain

Verse 2

The wallpaper is peeling Layer after layer The floral from the seventies The stripe from the fifties The cream that was cream Before the light turned it to bone I pull and the wall remembers Every surface that called it home

Chorus

I am the surface that holds I am the surface that holds Not the room - the wall Not the door - the frame Not the memory - the name Pressed into the grain

Bridge

The window is cold The glass is old The light that entered The light that left The surface records The passage of light The surface records The passage of light

Chorus

I am the surface that holds I am the surface that holds Not the room - the wall Not the door - the frame Not the memory - the name Pressed into the grain

Outro

The swamp holds the sky Upside-down The alligator sinks Without a sound The bones at the bottom Are the fortune I found The surface is the archive The archive is the ground