Palm Line Prophet

[Verse 1]
The busted speaker on the porch of the house on Gwinnett Street
Bleeds a D'Angelo bassline through the August heat.
Jesse watches from the steps, the day's dust on his jeans,
Traces the silver scar that splits his palm in two clean seams.
He’s holding a bottle of water, condensation on his hands,
The last one standing guard over unspoken family demands.

[Pre-Chorus]
And the rhythm starts to pull, a slow and steady tide,
At the foundation of the man where all the splinters hide.
It’s pulling, a ghost of a current, yeah
It's pulling, he can feel the hum of it

[Chorus]
Then the shoulders start to move, a little stiff at first,
A crack in the composure, like a pipe about to burst.
That ain’t dancing, that’s a prayer with its knuckles bare,
That’s that nail-scarred joy hanging in the humid air.

[Verse 2]
Got that line when a two-by-four slipped off the joist last fall.
His little sister cried, he barely felt it at all.
Mama said, "That's the price of the roof, son, plain to see."
Now it's just another grain in the wood of his history.

[Pre-Chorus]
And the rhythm starts to pull, a slow and steady tide,
At the foundation of the man where all the splinters hide.
It’s pulling, no fighting the current now,
It's pulling, he can feel the flood of it.

[Chorus]
And the shoulders start to move, a little stiff at first,
A crack in the composure, like a pipe about to burst.
That ain’t dancing, that’s a prayer with its knuckles bare,
That’s that nail-scarred joy hanging in the humid air.

[Bridge]
A body's a house you gotta live in, through the drought and the driving rain,
And tonight, he’s kicking out every single windowpane.

[Chorus]
And his whole frame starts to move, nothing stiff at all,
Answering the music's unrelenting, holy call.
That ain’t dancing, that’s a prayer with its knuckles bare,
That’s that nail-scarred joy, tearing through the air.

(Song stops abruptly)

(…pause…)

[Outro]
(Music returns: just a soft Rhodes, cicada field recording, and bass)
And the salt on the wind tastes a little like relief,
The prophet of the palm line, in his fierce belief.