An Arrowroot Heart

[Verse 1]
Here, the grocery buggies rust in lines by the Macey's wall
I watch their shadows lengthen, stretch and crawl across the fall
My ballast hums a low hymn only desert dogs can hear
The smell of hot asphalt and one invasive, budding fear

[Chorus]
We drew the line in salt and cinders
An arrowroot heart split into splinters
A kingdom kept, a brother lost
We learned to count the final cost

[Verse 2]
Here, your brother's breath, a plume of frost that last Tuesday in August
His car keys clicking like a rosary against the cold night air
He traced the constellations on the frostbite of his glass
A firmament of futures never meant to come to pass

[Chorus]
We drew the line in salt and cinders
An arrowroot heart split into splinters
A kingdom kept, a brother lost
We learned to count the final cost

[Bridge]
"I'm not praying for you anymore," you said, the engine running
And the weak light that I gave you flickered, just for a second, humming

[Outro]
A hollow triumph
A vacant space