Reclamation Day came and went, I heard it on a tape Woke to empty rooms and echoes I was late She left a path in recorded lines, said follow if you can But every word was already gone across the land Found her voice in a ranger post, low and worn and thin Said the world don’t wait for you, you step out or you’re in Talked about the roads ahead, the things we gotta do But by the time I reached that place, she’d already moved through I’m tracking down a mountain doe Light step, quiet and gone Every print just fades away Says I’ve been late too long Tape to tape, I’m running hard Trying to close that space Every mile she’s further on I never see her face Firehouse with the sirens dead, helmets on the ground Her voice said they tried to help, but no one stayed around Spoke of folks who held the line, and how it all went wrong I played it twice, then moved along Another tape in a broken town, store shelves picked and bare She said we could build again, said someone’s got to care But every plan she laid out clear was something already done I’m chasing what she finished, not what’s just begun I’m tracking down that mountain doe Through brush I can’t outrun Every sign she leaves behind Means I’ve already lost one Tape to tape, I don’t slow down Even when I should If I can’t catch up to her I’ll follow where she stood I saw her mark by a roadside sign, chalk worn off by rain Just enough to know she passed, not enough to explain Called out once into the hills, let the silence go Only thing that answered back was wind and echo Now I ain’t chasing just to find The voice inside that tape I’m learning how to walk the line Of every choice she made I’m tracking down that mountain doe But maybe that ain’t right Maybe I just learned to move Before I lose the light Tape to tape, I’m still behind But I understand She didn’t leave a trail to catch She left one I could stand
