Kerf Line

[Verse 1]
The scent of raw walnut from that half-built frame
Is the only thing here that will call out your name.
I measured it twice but you cut on the line,
A sixteenth of an inch of your will against mine.

[Pre-Chorus]
And the teeth of the saw left a shivering trace,
A fine coat of dust on this whole negative space.

[Chorus]
This is the kerf line, Asa.
The part of us that's gone.
Just wood dust on the floor of our Lafayette Park apartment at dawn.

[Verse 2]
You held up the joint with a gap I could see,
Said, "It's close enough, babe," and you said it to me.
This whole damn Tuesday smells of sawdust and gin,
The cold of the marking knife under my skin.

[Pre-Chorus]
And the grain doesn't run how you swore that it would,
A flaw in the timber we misunderstood.

[Chorus]
This is the kerf line, Asa.
The part of us that's gone.
Just wood dust on the floor of our Lafayette Park apartment at dawn.

[Bridge]
Can't fill a void this wide with any glue.
This isn't a dovetail joint. This is a tear.

[Outro]
A sixteenth of an inch...
is the difference between 'almost' and 'here'.