One vessel. Many states.

The field forgets its harvest
The hand forgets the row
Something I let go of
Has come back as snow

I planted in a dry year
I planted in the wind
Whatever I was praying
Has come back as sin

What the dark holds
The dark holds well
What I have to say
The seed will tell

Plant me as a quiet seed
Cover me with rain
What I lose has done me good
What I bury has many names

I am not the gardener
I am not the ground
I am what the gardener
Has finally laid down

Plant me as a quiet seed
Cover me with rain
What I lose has done me good
What I bury has many names

A quiet seed
A quiet seed
Many names

The light that came is not the light I keep
The light I keep is smaller
It fits inside my teacup
It walks me to the door

A week of ordinary mornings
A week of holding still
The medicine asked nothing
And the answer didn't yell

What I almost was
Is the work
What I almost said
Is the prayer

Medicine light, slow as honey
Show me what I might have said
Show me what I almost did
Show me what was almost true

The teacher said carry less
Not nothing, not a mess
I keep a candle for the lesson
And my cup for the rest

What I cannot name
I keep
What I almost hold
I leave

Medicine light, slow as honey
Show me what I might have said
Show me what I almost did
Show me what was almost true

The fire is not the keeper
The smoke will not refuse
The medicine might forget the patient
So the patient might remember what's left to lose

Medicine light, slow as honey
Show me what I might have said
Show me what I almost did
Show me what is finally true

Medicine light
Medicine light
Almost true

Sunday came in soft, two sermons through one ear
Mama's church said "mind the cup, what fills it can't stay clear"
The cowboy preacher pulled the rock from underneath my bones
Said the breath of God's the only thing that can break this heart of stone

Walked the long way home, two psalms ringin' loud
The sun moved past noon and the sky lost clouds
But the word that held the sermon couldn't hold this night
And the cup I'd been promised wasn't fillin' just right

Same cup catches rain water, same cup catches blood
Same hand that lifts the wine cup, can rise through the mud
Holy in the morning, still beggin' to be shown
The river don't ask why it's carryin' us home

Came her words at sundown, sharp as broken glass
Carved a name into me, told me nothin' good could pass
I'd worn that name before, like a borrowed coat
Now it sits inside me like a hand around my throat

Years of holdin' steady, years of holdin' on
The body kept the score of every line I'd drawn
Then the wall come down, come down without a sound
And tears the songs had carried finally found the ground

Same cup catches rain water, same cup catches blood
Same hand that lifts the wine cup, can rise through the mud
Holy in the morning, still beggin' to be shown
The river don't ask why it's carryin' us home

Loved you 'til the loving was a way of going down
Saved you twice but the ground beneath was yours alone
A heart can't be the heart your heart was tryin' to grow
So the door stays open and the river finds its road

Same cup catches rain water, same cup catches blood
Same hand that lifts the wine cup, can rise through the mud
Holy in the morning, still beggin' to be shown
The river don't ask why it's carryin' us home

The river carryin' us home
Same cup
Same cup
Same cup
Spilled out
Overflowing
Let God fill it up

Instrumental. The peak with no words for it: a bright melodic lead in the register a voice would sing.

Sung coda on the far side of the churn. Lyrics to come.