A Slow Dissolve

[A cappella]
June counts the water stains on the drop-ceiling tile
She’s been practicing her polite and patient smile

[Verse 1]
A Tuesday morning in the long November rain
The Benton County seal is sweating on the pane
The boy behind the glass is younger than her youngest son
Checking boxes for a life he thinks is done

[Chorus]
And it's a slow dissolve, a watercolor bleed
Planting bitter cress and pulling jimsonweed
A slow dissolve, the ink runs on the page
Just a quiet kind of fury for the age

[Verse 2]
Her grandfather’s name is spelled wrong on the deed
Says it's a known error, there's a form she's got to read
The air is thick with wet wool and the hum of the ballast
"Next in line," he says, and his gaze is overcast

[Chorus]
And it's a slow dissolve, a watercolor bleed
Planting bitter cress and pulling jimsonweed
A slow dissolve, the ink runs on the page
Just a quiet kind of fury for the age

[Bridge]
She whispers to the plexiglass, a language soft and old
"Is trom an t-ualach an t-aineolas," a story to be told
The words her grandmother brought over on the water, salt and deep
A promise that the riverbed remembers what you keep

[Outro]
A slow dissolve
A slow dissolve