One More Plate

Mama tied her apron

like a ribbon from the past

Turned the gravy low

and checked the biscuits through the glass

Forty years of Sundays in the same old practiced way

She set one extra plate down like he'd walk in any day

The children traded glances when they saw that open place

One of them asked softly,

and she smiled through her face

She said, your father always came home hungry

So I keep a chair where love can stay Heaven may have

called him before supper

But his hands are in this house today Every child,

every laugh, every story Is the table that he helped us raise (ooh)

Grandkids chased the porch dog,

cousins passed the bread

Someone told a story,

and the whole room shook its head

Mama watched the empty chair,

then watched the faces near The life they made together

was still gathered here

She touched the plate

and laughed beneath a tear

Said he is not missing when all of you are here

The walls remember every prayer we said

Love does not leave just because the chair is empty

She said, your father always came home hungry

So I keep a chair where love can stay

Heaven may have called him before supper

But his hands are in this house today

Every child, every laugh,

every story Is the table that he helped us raise And when

we bow our heads together He is home in every grace

(ooh, ooh)

One more plate, one more prayer

Love is still sitting there (mmmmm)