Deloris' Hands

[Verse 1]
Deloris' hands, after the Tuesday bleach-water,
Got a map drawn in the palm of every hard-won quarter.
The skin feel like rough-cast mortar mi mix in the sun,
A story done before my own life even start run.

[Chorus]
Is the house she build, right here in her bone.
A foundation deep... inna flesh and stone.
Every scar a shingle, every tired sigh a cornerstone.

[Verse 2]
See the silver line run cross her knuckle from a pot of scaldin' rice,
The way she hold her shoulder tight when the pressure get precise.
She just smile and seh, "Is nuttin', son. The Lord will provide."
But I see the structural stress she try so hard to hide.

[Chorus]
Is the house she build, right here in her bone.
A foundation deep... inna flesh and stone.
Every scar a shingle, every tired sigh a cornerstone.

[Bridge]
Mi pull out mi spirit level, hold it up against the grain,
Tryin' fi find the balance true between the love and the pain.

[Outro]
Flesh and stone...
The cornerstone.