Lyric

You came like rain on chalk

Made a map on my sleeve

The train door shut too slow

And left your shadow with me

I kept the ticket stub

Folded in my coat

Like a tiny paper boat

On a river made of smoke

The platform held its breath

I counted broken clocks

Your hand on the railing

Like a sparrow made of frost

I learned your name by heart

Then bit my own tongue twice

There was sugar in the air

And salt inside the lights

Keep the paper kites

Keep them in the wind

Hold the little thread

Till the sky gives in

Keep the paper kites

Let them climb again

If they fall to earth

I will fold them in

At dawn you worked the ovens

Aprons dusted white

You drew moons in the flour

On a table made of light

I stood by the back door

With crumbs on my shoes

You laughed like a glass jar

Full of lightning and of dew

The window steamed and shook

The pastry trays went still

You wrapped my empty hands

Around a paper cup and thrill

The day put on its coat

And hurried down the lane

I watched your braid of amber

Vanishing in rain

Keep the paper kites

Keep them in the wind

Hold the little thread

Till the sky gives in

Keep the paper kites

Let them climb again

If they fall to earth

I will fold them in

We rode the ferris wheel

Past the laundromat glow

Your boots were little thunder

On the painted metal toe

A child dropped red balloons

They climbed the evening seam

You said the world was only

A pocket full of steam

The cabin swung and creaked

Like a birdcage with a grin

Your sleeve brushed my wrist

And set the match within

Below us, cotton candy

Turned back into air

I saw the whole wide carnival

Caught up in your hair

Keep the paper kites

Keep them in the wind

Hold the little thread

Till the sky gives in

Keep the paper kites

Let them climb again

If they fall to earth

I will fold them in

A roadside motel moon

Hung over cracked black tar

You traced the room key numbers

Like you were naming stars

The ice machine coughed out

A handful of clear teeth

We sat on two hard chairs

With the summer underneath

Your suitcase by the sink

Was a sleeping wooden whale

My coat still smelled like oranges

And station-platform hail

The curtain moved like water

Across the window seam

You turned the lamp down low

And sharpened up a dream

Keep the paper kites

Keep them in the wind

Hold the little thread

Till the sky gives in

Keep the paper kites

Let them climb again

If they fall to earth

I will fold them in

Now winter owns the pier

With a mouth of iron teeth

The gulls are gray confetti

Over boards that groan beneath

Your scarf is in the closet

Like a flag from older wars

I carry all the door keys

That don't fit any doors

The tide rewrote the steps

With a hand of glass

I stood where we had stood before

And watched the egrets pass

The horizon wore a bruise

Behind a sheet of tin

I heard our old tomorrow

Knocking from within

Keep the paper kites

Keep them in the wind

Hold the little thread

Till the sky gives in

Keep the paper kites

Let them climb again

If they fall to earth

I will fold them in

I do not chase the storm

I learn its favorite route

I put the ash back in the jar

And turn the candle out

If every road unthreads

What used to hold us near

Then let the seam stay visible

So I can keep it here

Keep the paper kites

Keep them in the wind

Hold the little thread

Till the sky gives in

Keep the paper kites

Let them climb again

If they fall to earth

I will fold them in

Back at the station bench

The clock has changed its face

I leave the ticket stub

Where the pigeons pace

If your shadow comes again

I'll make it