The Kettle Is Singing Without Me

Lyrics

Somewhere past the ocean and the rain
There's a kitchen with the morning in the pane
Mother's hands around a chipped blue cup
And a chair that no one's sitting up

I have learned the streets here, every one
I have learned to smile at everyone
But the clock inside me keeps the hour
Of a doorway and a window-flower

And I fold the distance small
Like a letter, like a shawl

The kettle is singing without me
Steam on the window, the light coming in
The kettle is singing without me
And I am the song that it's singing again
Carry me over the water
Carry me home on the thread of a tune
The kettle is singing without me
But somebody's setting a cup out for June

Here the bread is good and the people kind
Still I taste a loaf I left behind
And I hum the tune the old stove knew
Soft enough that no one hears but you

And I fold the distance small
Like a letter, like a shawl

The kettle is singing without me
Steam on the window, the light coming in
The kettle is singing without me
And I am the song that it's singing again
Carry me over the water
Carry me home on the thread of a tune
The kettle is singing without me
But somebody's setting a cup out for June

Love is a lamp in a far-off room
Burning for me till I come
Burning for me till I come

The kettle is singing
The kettle is singing
And I am coming home