Lyric

Low water showed

The stones underneath

I stood by the rail

With salt on my teeth

You said it was early

You said you should go

The harbor was quiet

As if it already knew

I had not named it

I had not asked

I was still learning

How long feelings last

Then your coat turned

Toward the harbor mouth

And all of my almost

Went suddenly south

You Left Before the Tide

Before it could rise

Before I could see

What was there in your eyes

I was still waiting

For the water to move

You were already leaving

With nothing to prove

The tide table hung

By the locked café door

Numbers and minutes

I counted once more

A gull crossed the gray

Then vanished from sight

Like a small piece of morning

Changed into white

Maybe you knew

What I would become

If we stayed there longer

Under no sun

Maybe the mercy

Was leaving too soon

Before my whole heart

Could follow the moon

You went before

The water came in

Before the shore softened

Before we began

I had a feeling

Still trying to bloom

You closed the distance

By leaving the room

There are loves

That do not break

They only fail

To gather shape

No great goodbye

No final line

Just one boat gone

Before high tide

You went before

The water came in

Before the shore softened

Before we began

I keep the morning

I keep the view

And the part of me rising

Too late for you

By noon

The harbor was full

But you were gone

Before I knew