Beside the Sink

Intro

Mm

Mm-hmm

Orange seeds beside the sink

Oh-oh

Hook

Seeds beyond mi shadow

Find a little sun

I can put you in the window

Can't decide what you become

Roots inna di soil

Leaves beyond my reach

Grow where I can't follow

Save some sky for me

Verse 1

Newspaper across the table, soil beneath my nails

Instructions on my phone, twenty-seven open tabs

One says let them dry, another says to plant them fresh

Whole forest of opinions

Put three down and did my best

Little girl beside me asking will it grow by Friday

Said probably take longer

She said what about next Friday

Wrote the date in crooked letters, stuck a label on the side

She drew an orange bigger than the pot could ever hide

Asked me why the holes were there, I nearly said because

Caught myself, turned it over, showed her where the water runs

She poured half across the paper

I was quick to move the cup

Saw her shoulders lift a little

Slowed my hands

We wiped it up

That small look stayed with me when she went to wash her feet

Heard an old familiar sentence getting ready in my teeth

Let it wait

Tore another sheet

Soil all across the table

We still had enough to eat

Hook

Seeds beyond mi shadow

Find a little sun

I can put you in the window

Can't decide what you become

Roots inna di soil

Leaves beyond my reach

Grow where I can't follow

Save some sky for me

Verse 2

Father's cough inside my throat, mother's extra plate

Both come out without permission when somebody's running late

Some days I hear the sharpness after someone's left the room

Send a message

That came out wrong

Let the answer take its room

Used to think a legacy required a marble head

Name engraved above a doorway, strangers quoting what you said

Now I'm looking at a lunchbox with a fork I nearly missed

And a drawing on the fridge where I've got seven fingertips

I can write a hundred verses, leave the dishes there for days

Tell a child to pay attention with my eyes upon a screen

Phone goes face down

She starts the story twice

Something happened in the playground

Someone wasn't being nice

Got advice already loaded, whole speech behind my tongue

Then she asks if I can listen

So I leave the speech alone

Later, when she's finished, there's a question I can ask

We sit there working through it

Let the kettle click its last

Hook

Seeds beyond mi shadow

Find a little sun

I can put you in the window

Can't decide what you become

Roots inna di soil

Leaves beyond my reach

Grow where I can't follow

Save some sky for me

Bridge

Might grow crooked

Might grow slow

Might need moving

when the cold comes close

Keep the label

Check the soil

Turn the pot

Let morning do its work

Verse 3

Three weeks later, green hook lifting through the dirt

Sent a blurry little picture to the family group first

Someone sent a thumbs-up

Someone asked about my day

Little girl said told you

I let her have her way

Moved it from the windowsill when midday got too hot

Nearly drowned the little thing just trying to help it quite a lot

Found a chair outside the doorway, let it drain beside my shoe

Neighbour stopped to look

Said he used to grow them too

Talked a while about his garden, how the frost took half one year

How he kept the pots that made it, gave the others time to clear

When he left, I pulled the chair back, put the plant beside the light

Had a verse I meant to finish

Let it wait till later that night

There's a crack across the pavement where the little weeds came through

Bus still running late

Sky an ordinary blue

Took a breath before I answered when you called to ask me how

Bit tired

Something good happened

Got a minute

I'll tell you now

Final Hook

Seeds beyond mi shadow

Find a little sun

I can put you in the window

Can't decide what you become

Roots inna di soil

Leaves beyond my reach

Grow where I can't follow

Save some sky for me

Outro

Can we eat the oranges yet

Not yet

Toast

Yeah

I'll watch it this time