Tift Merritt Follow

An offering here in my winter coat,
Touch my face and point me home.
The ropes of time tangle the threads of hope,
Where I throw my birds, dare I watch them go,

I think I’ll come apart, how deep they leave their mark.

Like the leaves of the shady tree,
Wishes turn down inside of me,
And wake me here on this foreign shore,
Trembling that I run so far

Before a boat departs, how deep it leaves its mark.

Let me speak what your heart can see,
Roll and gather and open me,
In my whispering and my crying out,
Like dancers turning in light and dark

Here on my weighted heart, how deep they leave their mark.

And here in my winter coat,
How you pretend there’s something that you don’t know
In the stillness down where a blackbird sings
Its song of nothing and everything,

The counting stops and starts. How deep it leaves its mark.