Dust on the Porch

I spent three years in a one-room rent With a ceiling fan

that never bent

The dust motes danced in the afternoon

I hummed a lonesome,

borrowed tune Then your old Ford rumbled up the lane

Fenders rusted by the rain

You stepped out, boots in the red clay mud And something shifted

in my blood

Your hands were rough from a lifetime’s work Your laugh could crack

a quiet dark You turned my grey world into gold And held

me like I’d never been held But I broke the best thing

I ever knew

Now I’m trying hard to get

back to you

You built a porch so I could see the stars I played

a broken guitar

You never asked for anything but time I gave you nothing but

a hard-knock rhyme I let my temper run the show And watched

the best I had just go Now every sunset feels too wide

With you not sitting by my side

Your hands were rough from a lifetime’s work Your laugh could crack

a quiet dark You turned my grey world into gold And held

me like I’d never been held

But I broke the best thing

I ever knew

Now I’m trying hard to get

back to you

I’ll fix the screen door on the porch you built I’ll learn

to live without the guilt I’ll wait until your truck comes home

again

And pray you’ll let me

back in

(Yeah, I’m trying hard) I’m trying hard to get back to you

(Just trying hard)

My baby, I’m trying hard to get back to you