The Silent Mechanism

There's mortar under my fingernails tonight

There's an ache inside my spine that's here to stay

I paved the road so you could drive on through

To celebrate the holiday

You sip the wine, you take the view for free

And never count the cost it took from me

The foundation is firm, the plumbing is tight

You don't ask "how," you just turn on the light

You gather 'round the fire I start

And never see the heavy heart

I am the engine, quiet and deep

I sow the earth so you can reap

I don't need the glory, I don't need the crown

I'm the reason this house doesn't burn to the ground

You live in the picture, I live in the frame

We play the house, but we don't play the same

You treat this sanctuary like a hotel suite

You wipe your boots on mats I laid beneath your feet

You sit in chairs that you could never build

And drink from cups that I have washed and filled

You love the haven, you love the finished scene

But you're just a tourist in my machine

The foundation is firm, the plumbing is tight

You don't ask "how," you just turn on the light

You gather 'round the fire I start

And never see the heavy heart

I am the engine, quiet and deep

I sow the earth so you can reap

I don't need the glory, I don't need the crown

I'm the reason this house doesn't burn to the ground

You live in the picture, I live in the frame

We play the house, but we don't play the same

My bones are the timber, my blood is the glue

I don't do this for them, I don't do it for you

I do it because if I walked away

The rot would win, the wood would gray

It's a lonely throne, this state of repair

But someone has to sit in the chair

I am the engine, quiet and deep

I sow the earth so you can reap

I don't need the glory, I don't need the crown

I'm the reason this house doesn't burn to the ground

You live in the picture, I live in the frame

We play the house, but we don't play the same

Let them dance

Let them spin

I know exactly where the rot begins

And I know how to stop it