Miss Halloran's Chalkboard

Lyrics

Back row, ninth grade, my head on my arm
Thought I was nothing but trouble and harm
She set down her chalk and she walked down the aisle
Said, "I've been watching you, child, for a while"

Handed me a book with its corners worn thin
Said, "Read it tonight, then tell me again
That you've got nothing worth saying out loud"
Nobody'd ever said that, not in that crowd

Thank you, Miss Halloran, wherever you are
You lit up a window and I saw a star
You wrote on my paper, "Keep going, keep on"
And I'm still on the road with your words, long gone
Thank you, Miss Halloran, for the chalk and the sky
You taught me to look up and not ask why

Thirty years later I'm driving through town
The old brick schoolhouse is still standing, hunched down
I pull to the curb with the engine left running
And the porch of my mind feels like someone is coming

I never did write her, I meant to, I swear
Life got in the way, as it does, and the years
Now I sing every word that she pulled out of me
To a room full of strangers who somehow can see

Thank you, Miss Halloran, wherever you are
You lit up a window and I saw a star
You wrote on my paper, "Keep going, keep on"
And I'm still on the road with your words, long gone
Thank you, Miss Halloran, for the chalk and the sky
You taught me to look up and not ask why

Somebody once leaves a light on for you
And you carry it with you your whole life through

Thank you, Miss Halloran, wherever you are
You lit up a window and I saw a star
You wrote on my paper, "Keep going, keep on"
And I'm still on the road with your words, long gone
Thank you, Miss Halloran, for the chalk and the sky
You taught me to look up and not ask why

Chalk dust on the dashboard, a name in my song
Thank you, Miss Halloran, I kept going on