I kill the engine, lock the shed
And lean against the front porch rail
On paint that’s cracked and peeling
My usual trip into town
I get the latest secondhand
The rumors are revealing
And the darkness has its say
At the long end of the day
Maybe you’d have me first in line
An echo of your storied past
But my war doesn’t lie there
Under a shadow as a child
Watching the land devour itself
As we fought hard for our share
Suffered every cut and bruise
But for now it’s mine to lose
So I hold out hope of the slenderest kind
Is this what you’d want?
Knowing would ease my mind
‘Cause it’s hard and getting harder still
To find any faces unlined
From years of hurt and regrets
And leaving any safe bets far behind
I shut the lights off, bolt the doors
And climb the stretch of lonely stairs
I still see her ascending
And now you’ve joined her, gone too soon
Leaving only the space you filled
These walls I keep defending
While the darkness has its say
At the long end of the day
