Boots track dust on porch boards worn
The tide clock ticks but hands are torn
Wool coat holds the brine of cotton
Forgotten knots are all I've gotten
Salt in the gravel under heel
Salt in the gravel cold and real
No horizon left to chase or steal
Just salt in the gravel salt in the gravel
Keel laid up in barn loft high
Gulls don't circle in this sky
My compass spins on kitchen table
Stable now no cable to label
Salt in the gravel under heel
Salt in the gravel cold and real
No horizon left to chase or steal
Just salt in the gravel salt in the gravel
Hymnals hum in memory deep
Alto lines I used to keep
Breath held long for fermata pause
Now I wait for unknown cause
Teakwood cane taps rhythm slow
Church bell tolls the evening low
No logbook left to sign my name
Just ash and ember smoke and flame
Porch light flickers moths arrive
Keeping watch I'm still alive
The radio plays static hymns
Between the verses silence swims
Salt in the gravel under heel
Salt in the gravel cold and real
No horizon left to chase or steal
Just salt in the gravel salt in the gravel
Boots come off the day is done
Victory claimed but no one won
I lay the coat on hook and nail
And listen for the final gale
Salt in the gravel under heel
Salt in the gravel cold and real
No horizon left to chase or steal
Just salt in the gravel salt in the gravel
Salt in the gravel
Tide goes out tide comes in
Amen the tide comes in
