Morning Coat
Lyrics
Six a.m. and the mirror waits
I press the crease and I set my face
Practice words in a steady tone
Wear a voice that is not my own
Button up what the day will see
Fold the rest of it under me
Every morning the same routine
Every surface is wiped and clean
But the rain hits the window glass
And the years go running past
It slips
It slips
All the weight I wear so well
It slips
It slips
And I'm small again for a spell
Coffee ring on a printed page
I know my lines and I know my stage
But a song bleeds through the wall
One I knew when I was small
And my hands forget their place
Something younger fills my face
Every morning the same disguise
Every hallway of lowered eyes
But the light through the blinds is gold
Like a summer I still hold
It slips
It slips
All the weight I wear so well
It slips
It slips
And I'm small again for a spell
I built this coat from careful years
Stitched with meetings, hemmed with fears
But under wool and under thread
There's a kid who isn't dead
He still looks up when planes go by
He still asks the ceiling why
And I won't sew him shut again
Let him out, let him in
It slips
It slips
And I let it fall this time
It slips
It slips
And the morning feels like mine