Measure Twice

[Verse 1]
He watch her stand by the patty shop glass on a Tuesday
Smell of the hot asphalt after the noon rain come.
Six years gone since she left Port Antonio way,
Seem she carry the whole parish right there on her tongue.
He know that grain, that cedar-heart stubborn and true,
But time put a varnish on her he cyaan see through.

[Chorus]
Some joints yuh cyaan brace and glue,
Some wood too proud fi start anew.
Is a cut yuh mek one time, it gone right through.
Man fi measure twice, measure twice.

[Verse 2]
He cross the street, feel the Kingston sun burn him down.
Seh her name soft, like a secret in this loud town.
She turn, and her smile is a thing him half-recall.
She seh, "'Look how life small.' But she nuh mean small at all."
Him coulda tell her 'bout the nights sanding floors 'til dawn,
But the words feel like sawdust caught deep in him throat, and gone.

[Bridge]
One careless hammer-strike leave a mark pon di face,
A hasty word leave a silence time cannot erase.

[Outro]
She gone… same walk. New shoes.
Yeah. Measure twice.