The Blue Handle

[Intro]
[Verse]
The handle has a jagged chip
Right where you’d take a sip
You left when the snow was deep
A promise you couldn't keep
The radiator hums a low song
I knew you wouldn't stay long
The frost is on the glass
Watching the cold hours pass
[Chorus]
It sits on the wooden shelf
A ghost of your former self
A dollar-bin ceramic prize
Underneath the winter skies
Just a handle painted blue
Small traces of the true you
Soft grace in the ordinary
Nothing left for me to carry
[Verse]
We shared the kitchen light
Talked deep into the night
The organ hums a low tune
Beneath a cold January moon
You packed the heavy black trunk
Left all your beautiful junk
The mandolin plays a soft trill
The house is finally still
[Bridge]
I should have asked you to stay
Before you walked far away
In the cold light of day
There’s nothing left to say
I’ll find a better way
To keep the ghosts at bay
[Verse]
I fill it up with bitter tea
The steam rises slow and free
You’re miles away from me
Across a frozen gray sea
I trace the cracks with my thumb
Until my fingers go numb
The double bass plucks a beat
Echoing down the empty street
[Chorus]
It sits on the wooden shelf
A ghost of your former self
A dollar-bin ceramic prize
Underneath the winter skies
Just a handle painted blue
Small traces of the true you
Soft grace in the ordinary
Nothing left for me to carry
[Post-Chorus]
Just a mug on the ledge
Living on the very edge
Bittersweet and grounded now
I’ll get through it somehow
Quiet recognition in the clay
As the winter fades away
[Outro]