The Frost Keeps Its Own Counsel

Lyrics

I walked out in my father's boots
Across the whitened lawn
Each step a small crisp promise
Beneath the early dawn
The breath I made stood in the air
Like something I had said
The whole wide morning held its tongue
And I walked on ahead

The frost keeps its own counsel
But I can read it well
It says the year is turning
And all of us are well
The cold is only company
A coat the world puts on
The frost keeps its own counsel
And I walk on, walk on

The gate is stiff, the hinges sing
A hard and silver chime
The hedgerow wears a coat of lace
Stitched there in a single time
I know this path, I've walked it long
Through every weather's face
And every first hard morning
Has taught me to embrace

The frost keeps its own counsel
But I can read it well
It says the year is turning
And all of us are well
The cold is only company
A coat the world puts on
The frost keeps its own counsel
And I walk on, walk on

There will be longer nights ahead
And fires to be fed
There will be mornings thick with grey
And warm and waiting bread
But I am steady, I am sure
My footsteps leave their line
Across the white, a line of dark
That says the day is mine

The frost keeps its own counsel
But I can read it well
It says the year is turning
And all of us are well
The cold is only company
A coat the world puts on
The frost keeps its own counsel
And I walk on, walk on

I walk on
The frost and I, walk on