Key: C
Introduction:
C Em D Am
The meadowlark and the chim-choo-ree and the sparrow
Set to the sky in a flying spree, for the sport over the pharaoh
C Em D Am
there is a rusty light on the pines tonight sun pouring wine, lord, or marrow
down into the bones of the birches and the spires of the churches jutting
F A E F#m
we've seen those mountains kneeling, felten and grey
we thought our very hearts would up and melt away
D A E F#m
from that snow in the nighttime just going and going
and the stirring of wind chimes in the morning in the morning
Bm E7 Bm E7
helps me find my way back in
from the place where I have been
C#m F#
and, Emily - I saw you last night by the river
I dreamed you were skipping little stones across the surface of the water
G#m B A C#m
frowning at the angle where they were lost, and slipped under forever,
in a mud-cloud, mica-spangled, like the sky'd been breathing on a mirror
C#m F#
anyhow - I sat by your side, by the water
you taught me the names of the stars overhead that I wrote down in my ledger
G#m B A C#m
tho all I knew of the rote universe were those pleiades loosed in december
I promised you I?d set them to verse so I'd always remember
C#m F#
that the meteorite is a source of the light and the meteor's just what we see
G#m B A C#m
and the meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee
C#m F#
and the meteorite's just what causes the light and the meteor's how it's perceived
G#m B A C#m
and the meteoroid's a bone thrown from the void that lies quiet in offering to thee
C Em D Am
you came and lay a cold compress upon the mess I'm in
threw the window wide and cried Amen! Amen! Amen!
C Em D Am
the lines are fadin' in my kingdom
though I have never known the way to border them in
F A E F#m
in due time we will see the far butte lit by a flare
I've seen your bravery, and I will follow you there
D A E F#m
and row through the nighttime gone healthy gone healthy all of a sudden in
search of the midwife who could help me who could help me
Bm E7 Bm E7
help me find my way back in
there are worries where I've been
C#m F#
say, say, say in the lee of the bay don't be bothered
leave your troubles here where the tugboats shear the water from the water
G#m B A C#m
flanked by furrows, curling back, like a match held up to a newspaper
C#m F#
Emily, they'll follow your lead by the letter
and I make this claim, and I'm not ashamed to say I know you better
G#m B A C#m
what they've seen is just a beam of your sun that banishes winter
C#m F#
let us go! though we know it's a hopeless endeavor
the ties that bind, they are barbed and spined and hold us close forever
G#m B A C#m
though there is nothing would help me come to grips with a sky that is gaping and yawning
there is a song I woke with on my lips as you sailed your great ship towards the morning
C Em D Am
come on home, the poppies are all grown knee-deep by now
blossoms all have fallen, and the pollen ruins the plow
C Em D Am
and everything with wings is restless, aimless, drunk and dour
the butterflies and birds collide at hot, ungodly hours
F A E F#m
Pa pointed out to me, for the hundredth time tonight
the way the ladle leads to a dirt-red bullet of light
D A E F#m
squint skyward and listen - loving him, we move within
his borders: just asterisms in the stars' set order
C Em D Am
told the meteorite is the source of the light and the meteor's just what we see
and the meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee