Gospel in the Wood Grain

[Verse 1]
The Greyhound sign on Lomas flickers blue and red,
Two a.m. on Wednesday, putting the shift to bed.
Maria wipes the counter down, a sticky film of day,
Tries to hear a different sound a thousand miles away.

[Chorus]
It's the sound of the hand plane on the Ponderosa pine,
A gospel in the wood grain, a true and steady line.
It's the song she's singing low, a prayer beneath her breath,
A promise from a memory to pull her back from death.

[Verse 2]
Her phone buzzes facedown, a name she won't look at,
Just the hum of the ice machine on the soaked rubber mat.
Her grandfather told her, his hands all stained with rust,
"'Some wood just has to break, girl, before you learn to trust.'"

[Bridge]
But Lord, the sawdust settles and the tools are cold and gone,
This Albuquerque midnight feels nothing like his dawn.
Did I measure wrong? Did I misread the plan?
Just send me the echo of Your working hands.

[Chorus]
The sound of the hand plane on the Ponderosa pine,
A gospel in the wood grain, a true and steady line.
It's the song she's singing now, a prayer beneath her breath,
A promise from a memory to pull her back from death.

[Outro]
The sound of the hand plane...
Oh, the sound...