This Fallow Row

[Verse 1]
Beulah watched the clock above the bleachers, stuck at 3:17,
The air thick with floor wax and the promise of a voting machine.
They stood like stubborn roots pushed through a crack in the county floor,
A silent testimony from some other, quieter war.
She felt the cold seep through her coat, a chill from Georgia clay,
Just another Tuesday reaping what they sowed yesterday.

[Chorus]
The world ends soft, y'all, a slow, patient hum,
Gleaning what little hope is left 'til kingdom come.
The world ends quiet, in a borrowed chair,
With a folded paper ballot for a prayer.

[Verse 2]
An old man coughed, a dry leaf sound that echoed off the tile,
Said, "They countin' every grain of dust, gonna be here for a while."
He held a paper cup of coffee, black and bitter on his tongue,
A small and heavy sacrament for how the victory's won.

[Chorus]
The world ends soft, y'all, a slow, patient hum,
Gleaning what little hope is left 'til kingdom come.
The world ends quiet, in a borrowed chair,
With a folded paper ballot for a prayer.

[Bridge]
Looking back, that whole long afternoon, it feels like it was cast…
Every shadow was a prophecy of something that wouldn't last.

[Outro]
Just a long, fallow row…
Waiting on a seed to grow.