[Intro] (sparse, single guitar) [Verse 1] (softly) Three floors down I set my bare feet flat Forty-six years of their salt on the racks It leans toward me through the concrete wall I lean into it and I do not lean back [Pre-Chorus] (building) Castillo opens the archive she armored herself Sets her back on the steel so the fire can come She holds the door with her own two hands Bring it, she says. I am the one it is from. [Chorus] (bigger, strings up) Someone pays in salt tonight The candle pays for its light by growing short I haul the net up hand over hand And the heat climbs my arms to the wings I never sought [Verse 2] (half-time) Up on the dock Pacing kneels in the ring Both palms flat, the rosary twice round her wrist She takes the whole weight of the night in her chest So the one who ends it will not be missed [Bridge] (huge crescendo, choir) Halloran walks the far side, unhurried, free Him or the archive, I could not haul two I chose the work, I let the man go And that trade is a stone I will carry through [Chorus] (full, choir, peak) Someone pays in salt tonight The white goes out of the center ring Pacing folds over her open hands And the daughter holds whole in the dawn she brings [Outro] (strings decay) She spent the last of herself in salt, on her knees. [End]
