The Cedar Wing

[Intro]
[Verse]
The sun cuts through the pine dust haze
In the corner where the light stays
I pulled the heavy drawer away
To see the mess of yesterday
I wasn't looking for a sign
Just cleaning out this shop of mine
[Verse]
But there it was beneath the grit
A little bird, a piece of it
I carved this when I was sixteen
The roughest wood you've ever seen
I thought I threw this thing away
Back in my loud and younger days
[Chorus]
He kept the wings I couldn't fly
Under the dust of years gone by
Smelling of lemon and old oil
The quiet fruit of honest toil
He never said he loved the art
But he kept the piece of my young heart
[Verse]
I see the slip of my old blade
The jagged marks that I once made
He didn't sand the flaws away
He let the honest errors stay
His hands were rough like cedar bark
Leaving his blessing in the dark
[Bridge]
The spinet plays a soft refrain
Like shadows dancing in the grain
We don't need words to say the truth
He held the fragments of my youth
In every joint and every dovetail
A love that didn't need a scale
[Breakdown]
Just the grain
Just the wood
I think he understood
Yeah, he understood
[Chorus]
He kept the wings I couldn't fly
Under the dust of years gone by
Smelling of lemon and old oil
The quiet fruit of honest toil
He never said he loved the art
But he kept the piece of my young heart
[Chorus]
He kept the wings I couldn't fly
Under the dust of years gone by
Smelling of lemon and old oil
The quiet fruit of honest toil
He never said he loved the art
But he kept the piece of my young heart
[Outro]