Your Coat Stays on the Kitchen

Lyrics

[Verse 1] You left your coat on the kitchen chair Dust on the cuffs, cold air in the seams I keep the porch lamp burning there Though the county road has swallowed your wheels [Pre-Chorus] The clock leans hard against the wall Your coffee cup is still by mine I hear the old floor settle down Like it remembers every time [Chorus] If you come back, come back honest Leave the dust out on the drive I have carried all your silence Like a wound I learned to hide And if the dark has made you different If the miles have changed your name I will know you by the way you stand When the kitchen door swings in again [Verse 2] Your mother called from Mill Creek town Said the first frost took the garden clean I told her I was doing fine Then watched your shadow cross the screen [Pre-Chorus] The clock leans hard against the wall Your coffee cup is still by mine I hear the old floor settle down Like it remembers every time [Chorus] If you come back, come back honest Leave the dust out on the drive I have carried all your silence Like a wound I learned to hide And if the dark has made you different If the miles have changed your name I will know you by the way you stand When the kitchen door swings in again [Bridge] Maybe love is not a promise Maybe it is keeping room For the truth to cross the threshold For the morning to come through [Final Chorus] If you come back, come back honest Leave the dust out on the drive I have carried all your silence But I’m setting it aside And if the dark has made you different If we cannot be the same I will meet you where the road runs out And let the old house know your name [Outro] Your coat stays on the kitchen chair Till I decide what mercy means