New Wood, Old Ship

[Verse 1]
The jacaranda stain from October '08 on the pavement
Is paler now, a slow erosion, a ghost of the thing.
I see the map of your face in the kitchen half-light,
And try to trace it back to where we begin.

[Chorus]
New wood for the old ship's frame,
Do we still answer to the same name?
New wood for the old ship's frame,
Are we the memory or the change?

[Verse 2]
The four-oh-five alarm goes off on your side of the bed.
The weight of your hand is a language I once understood.
We talk about the rates, the load shedding, what the neighbour said,
We stand on floorboards we laid down, different wood.

[Bridge]
"Promise me we'll stay this way," you traced it on my palm,
Under the Vilakazi Street lights, the air thick with braai smoke.

[Outro]
Same name...
Same name...