Track Insight / Lyrics
You bite the mud where keels have groaned
Chain sings a low and patient note
No compass needle, just the bone
Deaf to storm but not the boat
[Pre-
Gulls write their names in blown spray script
You read each scratch and do not miss
Tide turns the page with salty thumb
You hold the dark where currents come
Iron ear, you hear the pier breathe deep
Wood ribs groan slow beneath the sweep
No voice, no face, just weight and wait
Iron ear, you catch the harbor's fate
My lens finds pitting on your crown
Orange bloom on cold grey skin
Each scar a ship that once went down
Or held the line and pulled it in
[Pre-
Shutter snaps the groaning pile
Wind steals the breath a long slow while
Negative drinks the grey green light
You anchor down the endless night
Iron ear, you hear the pier breathe deep
Wood ribs groan slow beneath the sweep
No voice, no face, just weight and wait
Iron ear, you catch the harbor's fate
Bus ticket burned in pocket ash
I ran from city noise and speed
Found you sleeping in the crash
Where land gives up and meets the sea
Iron ear, you hear the pier breathe deep
Wood ribs groan slow beneath the sweep
No voice, no face, just weight and wait
Iron ear, you catch the harbor's fate
Contact sheet shows chain links tight
Barnacles script in calcium white
Flukes dug deep past sight and sound
Best holding ground that can be found
Iron ear, you hear the pier breathe deep
Wood ribs groan slow beneath the sweep
No voice, no face, just weight and wait
Iron ear, you catch the harbor's fate
Darkroom smells of fixer salt and time
Prints dry on line clipped wooden pins
You never speak but every rhyme
Is etched in rust on iron skins
Iron ear, you hear the pier breathe deep
Wood ribs groan slow beneath the sweep
No voice, no face, just weight and wait
Iron ear, you catch the harbor's fate
Iron ear, you catch the harbor's fate
Shutter clicks the negative sleeps
Iron ear keeps what the tide keeps
