Dredge the Cedar River For a previous life Or scour the cliffs above In search of lost time And you'll never find the body As the Palisades crumble slowly And claim the past as their own Branded skin, broken vessel Took a job in the city Making matchsticks To start other men's fires Gorgeous blooms on these cliffs Midst a battery of sticks and twigs
Gravity toils away Blisters on its hands from tightening ropes all day Lashing down all it sees But its pull is like a father's and not like a king's And the rule of the land is more like a strong suggestion As this strong current begs for the open ocean Branded skin, broken vessel Took a job in the city Making matchsticks To start other men's fires