The Last Dime

[Chorus]
They call this a running faucet, Daddy
But the thing I can't get over is the quiet
How it stops when you tell it to stop
In this house we're building on the high ground

[Verse 1]
The plumber's van was a Kenworth, clean as a Sunday shirt
Pulled out the drive 'bout quarter past nine, didn't even leave no dirt
My husband just watched it go, said, "That's the last dime it'll cost us."
And the room felt too big for a moment, without the slow drip we got lost in.

[Chorus]
They call this a running faucet, Daddy
But the thing I can't get over is the quiet
How it stops when you tell it to stop
In this house we're building on the high ground

[Verse 2]
I still see that threadbare dishrag you'd wrap 'round the base of the spout
A tight little bandage you'd fix every week when the old patch wore out
We darned it with duct tape and hope, a prayer whispered over the rust
Just mending the seam of the household with nothing but tired-out trust.

[Bridge]
Mama lit incense this morning, the scent like a ghost in the hall
For the kami she says live inside of the copper, the faucet and all.

[Outro]
The water runs clear now, Daddy.
And it stops when you tell it to stop.