Thread & Groove

(shh-shh-shh) A tin full of buttons,

a thousand or more,

I put the lid on for the loose ones.

Keep the good few laid out on the cloth,

The rest wait quiet till you ask.

Every one goes to the same table,

Every one goes to the same table.

Big coat, small coat,

it makes no difference,

Same table, same wide table.

Odd little buttons all down the front,

Bone, brass, a square one,

a shell.

I snipped them off,

one thread at a time,

Sewed the row with a matched set.

Every one goes to the same table,

Every one goes to the same table.

One kind of button,

however it's

worn, Same hands know how it feels.

You said,

did you try every coat?

I had tried the one by the door.

So I went down the whole rail,

turned out every pocket.

Say what you did,

and say what you didn't.

The rail was there before you took your first coat down.

A run of small stitches,

drawn into one seam,

Tug it flat, it lies like it grew.

Bite the thread, hang the thimble on the nail,

Tin on the shelf,

and the door pulled to.

Same table, same wide table,

Nothing smaller than I found it.

Same table, same wide table,

Sleep now, sleep now.