The Quiet Table for Two

I set the table for two in the low candle glow

One glass by the window, one chair in the snow of the room

I heard your name in the clock in the stove's soft sigh

Like you were passing by

I leave the lamplight on when the hours grow thin

Talk to the shadows like you might answer within

There's a warmth in the hush where your laughter used to stay

It never went away

So I leave a place setting

For someone I miss

A folded white nappy

A quieted wish

I speak through the flame

And the trembling air

And feel you there

Feel you there

In the silence between every breath I take

In the stillness you make

The chill leans in

Like a hand on my sleeve

The piano keeps time

With the things I believe

That love does not vanish

It lingers and bends

Until night lets it in again

So I leave a clay setting for someone I miss

A folded white napkin, a quieted wish

I speak through the sleep and the trembling air

And feel you there, feel you there

And the silence between every breath I take

And the stillness you make

If you come as a memory

At this table of longing where I wade through the gray

I will listen for footsteps the whole night through

And leave a place for you