[Verse 1] You left the kettle singing While the morning crossed the tile I saw the tired in your shoulders And stayed a little while The news was full of borders And a thousand private wars But you put your hand beside mine Like a key beside a door [Pre-Chorus] We don't need a perfect answer We need room enough to hear Every heart is carrying weather Every stranger has a fear [Chorus] Love is not a prize we gather It is bread passed hand to hand Empathy can cross a distance Forgiveness helps us stand When the old walls lean between us When the blame has filled the room Choose the softer word together Make a little living room [Verse 2] The bus broke down by Tuesday Rain collected in the seats Someone shared a torn umbrella With a child in yellow sleeves I have said the thing that wounded I have watched a friendship close But a door can take a beating And still open, if it knows [Pre-Chorus] We don't have to lose our anger We can teach it where to go Turn it toward the hands that harm us Not the hands that need to know [Chorus] Love is not a prize we gather It is bread passed hand to hand Empathy can cross a distance Forgiveness helps us stand When the old walls lean between us When the blame has filled the room Choose the softer word together Make a little living room [Bridge] If I can name your hurt without me becoming small If you can meet my failures without making me crawl Then the future isn't waiting somewhere out of sight It begins with one more mercy practiced tonight [Final Chorus] Love is not a prize we gather It is bread passed hand to hand Empathy can cross a distance Forgiveness helps us stand Let the cello cut the silence Let the choir lift the roof Let the marimba mark the heartbeat Let our actions prove the truth [Outro] Leave the kettle singing Leave the doorway wide There is enough of us together To turn the tide
