The Catch in the Drawer

[Verse 1]
The Keystone state road map from nineteen-ninety-eight
Is folded on a fault line that determined our whole fate.
We smooth it on the countertop, a fragile, yellowed skin,
And trace the faded interstates where the rust is setting in.

[Chorus]
(Female vocal enters, ethereal)
Oh, we're just the catch in the drawer, the warped and swollen pine.
A dovetail joint that never set, a crooked pencil line.

[Verse 2]
A book of matches from the Squirrel Hill Cafe
Still smells like cigarettes and some forgotten Tuesday.
You said, "Don't throw them out, you never know when you might need a light,"
So we watch the dust motes dancing in the final, failing light.

[Chorus]
(Female vocal, stronger)
Oh, we're just the catch in the drawer, the warped and swollen pine.
A dovetail joint that never set, a crooked pencil line.

[Bridge]
We measured twice and cut it clean, the straightest grain we found.
But the wood remembered winter, deep down in the ground.

[Chorus]
(Both voices, powerful, strained harmony)
And oh, we're the catch in the drawer, the warped and swollen pine!
A dovetail joint that never set, that crooked pencil line!

[Outro]
The last screw rattles in its hole, a whisper in the gloom.
It's the only sound left in the room.