[Verse 1] I kept the kettle by the window, counted cracks across the tile. You knew the shape of every silence, and stayed with me awhile. You left a note beside the breadbox, three small words in crooked blue; I had nowhere left to carry me, so I carried home to you. [Pre-Chorus] When the floor gave way beneath me, when my courage missed a step, you never asked me to be fearless, you just taught my lungs to rest. [Chorus] You are the room I can return to, the steady chair beneath my weight. You are the hand beside the doorway when I am running late. I bring you all my broken pieces, you never make me hide; you turn the ordinary tender, and leave the porch light on inside. [Verse 2] There were mornings at the bus stop with a bruise beneath my sleeve, all the plans I couldn't finish, all the reasons not to leave. You would save the last peach slice, fold my coat across the chair; without making any promise, you made breathing easier there. [Pre-Chorus] And I learned the shape of mercy from the things you did unseen: a washed cup, a mended button, a little space for me to grieve. [Chorus] You are the room I can return to, the steady chair beneath my weight. You are the hand beside the doorway when I am running late. I bring you all my broken pieces, you never make me hide; you turn the ordinary tender, and leave the porch light on inside. [Bridge] If the winter takes the garden, if the river leaves its bed, I will follow how you held me when the worst was in my head. Not to live without the sorrow, not to paint the hard days white, but to find a little courage in the way you stayed that night. [Final Chorus] You are the room I can return to, the steady chair beneath my weight. You are the hand beside the doorway when I am running late. I bring you all my broken pieces, you never make me hide; you turn the ordinary tender, and leave the porch light on inside. You are the room I can return to, when the long road bends me wide; you turn the ordinary tender, and leave the porch light on inside. [Outro] The kettle cools beside the window, the blue ink fades but stays true. I know the road can take me farther; I still know where to return to.
