Shiver of Slate

[Verse 1]
The first cornerstone came from the bed of the White River
Still holding the August water, a cold kind of shiver
You balanced it plumb on the chert rock below
Humming a tune that I used to know.

[Chorus]
We called it a prayer set in dry-stack stone
A slow-motion ending we should have known.

[Verse 2]
We worked till the whippoorwills owned the dark air
Dust in your eyelashes, clay in your hair
You said, "This one's got a fault line, see the dark-water stain?"
And you set it aside in the coming rain.

[Chorus]
We called it a prayer set in dry-stack stone
A slow-motion ending we should have known.

[Bridge]
A good mason learns what the rock wants to do
I built a whole life and I never knew you.

[Outro]
Just a prayer set in stone.