[Verse 1] I left his coat upon the peg Like he had only gone for bread The sleeve still held the kitchen shape The collar still held what he said August took the heat out of the rooms September taught the doors to swell Then one morning the hook was shining And the wool had learned the tell A thin white edge along the shoulder Too fine to call a storm The year had finally signed its name In a handwriting I knew as cold [Pre-Chorus] Not snow enough to count Not ice enough to claim the street Just the first true mark of leaving Sitting quiet on the sleeve [Chorus] First frost on his coat That is when I called it done First frost on his coat Not the service, not the song I could argue with a funeral I could argue with a date First frost on his coat And the house could not debate [Verse 2] I stood there in my stocking feet And I did not take it down I let the fabric keep the weather Like a mouth that held a sound People say you should box the clothes People say you should be brave People have not watched a season Write a verdict on a grave I made coffee. I watched the window Go from black to ordinary gray The coat stayed wintered on the peg And I stayed out of its way [Pre-Chorus] Not a ghost Not a trick Not a story for a crowd Just water Turning honest On a thing he used to wear around [Chorus] First frost on his coat That is when I called it done First frost on his coat Not the service, not the song I could argue with a funeral I could argue with a date First frost on his coat And the house could not debate [Verse 3] That night I walked the corpse road With the frost still in my throat Every branch along the dead mile Wore the same thin white note I understood the old arrangement Why they move the body off the street Living roads stay useful Dead ones tell the truth with sleet At the lychgate I put my hand On iron that bit back like fact Then I came home to the peg And I left the coat intact [Bridge] I will give it to the morning I will give it to the air I will not make a relic Out of wool and what was there But tonight it keeps the first proof That the year has closed its fist A man can vanish in a kitchen And still be weather on a hook like this [Breakdown] Peg Wool White Gone Peg Wool Hold on Not forever Just till dawn First frost Then we move him on [Verse 4] In the daylight I took the coat I shook the silver from the seams I hung it farther in the closet With the rest of ruined things I did not burn it. I did not keep It like a chapel in the hall I let October have the symbol And I let the rooms stay small If the neighbors want a lantern They can have their pretty dark My Halloween is a coat That finally showed its mark [Chorus] First frost on his coat That is when I called it done First frost on his coat Not the service, not the song I could argue with a funeral I could argue with a date First frost on his coat And the house could not debate [Final Chorus] First frost on his coat I still see it when I blink First frost on his coat Is the sentence I believe If you meet me on the dead road Do not tell me he is close The year already wrote it In white along the wool he wore most [Outro] Hook empty Closet shut Morning ordinary That is enough First frost Then the rest
