Only Tea. (ft. Robert Willow)

Put the kettle on,

love The room has gone still

One cup left warming the sill

Milk skin rings the saucer like a moon gone pale Your chair

keeps its manners, empty by the rail

Sugar in the tin,

but nobody asks for two

Steam climbs up and vanishes before I think of you I stir

until the spoon forgets the sound

I drink the quiet down

It's only tea, but it tastes like goodbye

Brown as the earth,

hot as a last reply Hold the cup with both hands,

let the morning decide When the steam is gone,

I know where we reside

Only tea,

only tea Pour me gently

into sleep

China cracks in places no one bothers to see Like the little

lines gathering at the edge of me

I kept the best leaves

hidden for a better day

Now they bloom and blacken,

then they drift away

The clock gives up its ticking for a while

I practice one last smile

If the spoon stops circling,

don't call it a sign Some doors open slowly,

some close right on time Leave the cup unwashed when you go

Let the stain say what I know

It's only tea, but it tastes like goodbye

Brown as the earth,

hot as a last reply Hold the cup with both hands,

let the morning decide When the steam is gone,

I know where we reside

Only tea,

only tea

Pour me gently

into sleep Only tea,

only tea

Keep the table set for me Put the kettle on,

love

But don't wait up for me

The cup is cooling kindly

Beside the quiet sea

No grand farewell, no choir

Just porcelain and heat

One sip nearer silence One more place to leave