The Ink and the Grain

[Intro]
[Verse]
Dust settles on the ladder rungs
Climbing back to where I was young
The air is sweet and the cedar's strong
This is where I still belong
I brought my pens and my tablet too
But they don't feel as real as you
[Pre-Chorus]
Found that leather bound in a crate
Tucked away behind the garden gate
I never knew what you kept inside
All the things you used to hide
[Chorus]
There’s a sketch of me in the yard
Working on a birthday card
In the margin where the paper’s thin
You wrote "He’s got it deep within"
Every stroke and every shade
Shows a love that never starts to fade
Yeah, you saw it all along
Even when the words felt wrong
[Verse]
I design the world on a glowing screen
But your charcoal lines are what I mean
You drew the barn and the broken fence
Making beauty out of common sense
Found a note on page forty-nine
Saying "This boy is gonna shine"
[Chorus]
There’s a sketch of me in the yard
Working on a birthday card
In the margin where the paper’s thin
You wrote "He’s got it deep within"
Every stroke and every shade
Shows a love that never starts to fade
Yeah, you saw it all along
Even when the words felt wrong
[Bridge]
It’s a quiet kind of victory
Knowing you were watching over me
I don’t need a loud "I love you" now
I see it in the furrow of your brow
In the way you held the lead
Planting every single creative seed
[Solo]
[Verse]
The lap steel hums through the floor
I don’t feel like a stranger anymore
I see the way you used your hand
To map out all this golden land
You left a map for me to find
The treasures of a quiet mind
[Post-Chorus]
It was always there
In the morning air
In the ink and the grain
Through the sun and the rain
[Chorus]
There’s a sketch of me in the yard
Working on a birthday card
In the margin where the paper’s thin
You wrote "He’s got it deep within"
Every stroke and every shade
Shows a love that never starts to fade
Yeah, you saw it all along
Even when the words felt wrong
[Outro]