Cracked leather warms against my palm
Calm settles heavy like a psalm
Fluorescent tubes hum low and deep
Concrete walls guard what they keep
Leather & dust in the archive hush
Old melodies I used to know
Pages turn without a rush
Where fuzz guitars and silence grow
Ink bleeds blue on brittle onion skin
Margins hold the years I've been
Dewey numbers fade on metal plates
History sleeps in locked-up crates
Leather & dust in the archive hush
Old melodies I used to know
Pages turn without a rush
Where fuzz guitars and silence grow
Card catalog scent of pine and glue
Alto voice breaks quiet through
Microfilm spins a silver reel
Time stands still on cold steel
Leather & dust in the archive hush
Old melodies I used to know
Pages turn without a rush
Where fuzz guitars and silence grow
Gold leaf cracks on the cover tight
Read by the exit sign's red light
No library card, no return date
Just gravity and paper weight
Leather & dust in the archive hush
Old melodies I used to know
Pages turn without a rush
Where fuzz guitars and silence grow
Leather & dust, just leather & dust
