Bend (Joseph)

I am not my family tree

These are different leaves, you know

There are miles and miles between

My roots and what I'm trying to grow

I am not the slave they sold

Nor am I royalty

I've worn them both, the finest coat

And rags that barely cover me

But there's mercy in the soil, mercy in the sun

Learning to forgive, what cannot be undone

And what was meant to harm can't harm you in the end

Stepped out on a limb I thought might break

But love said, it will only bend

It will only bend

I am not my past mistakes

Labelled by some place and time

Nor am I trophy case

Trying to maintain my shine

I have dreamed a thousand dreams

Watched a grain in famine, grow

I am not my family tree

I have branches of my own

But there's mercy in the soil, mercy in the sun

Learning to forgive, what cannot be undone

And what was meant to harm can't harm you in the end

Stepped out on a limb I thought might break

But Love said, it will only bend

It will only bend

Oh, does fate resign us to

Find shelter for our wounds

Beneath the battered roof of broken dreams?

Oh, but I will choose to stand

In the shadow of your hand

And see what grows when grace has sown the seed