32..Story: On the Bench
Verse 1
I went out carrying my weather
Grey sky folded in my chest
Sat down by the pond to be alone
Or at least to try my best
Then an old man with a paper cup
Sat down on the other side
Said, “Those ducks seem calmer than the rest of us”
And something in me smiled
Pre-Chorus
It wasn’t wisdom
It wasn’t grand
Just two lives meeting
Without a plan
Chorus
And for a little while
I wasn’t all my history
Wasn’t all the names I wear
Or the story handed me
Just a laugh, a breeze, a line
A stranger speaking into time
And all at once the world felt less
Like “me” and more like life alive
Verse 2
He spoke about the weather first
Then dogs, then council trees
Then somehow of his late wife’s hands
And grief that comes and leaves
And I could feel the bubble thin
The old enclosure of my head
No great awakening, just less of me
In everything he said
Pre-Chorus
No role to manage
No script to keep
Just simple contact
Running deep
Chorus
And for a little while
I wasn’t all my history
Wasn’t all the names I wear
Or the story handed me
Just a laugh, a breeze, a line
A stranger speaking into time
And all at once the world felt less
Like “me” and more like life alive
Bridge
Maybe that’s why it feels so good
When nothing much is meant
No past to drag behind the words
No self to represent
Just voice and hearing
Pond and light
A duck coming up shining bright
And something old in me let go
Without needing to know
Final Chorus
And for a little while
I wasn’t trapped inside my name
Wasn’t all the things I fear
Or the ways I try to change
Just a bench, a joke, a sky
A stranger and a passerby
And all at once the world felt less
Like “mine” and more like this alive
Outro
He walked away
The pond stayed still
My thoughts came back
And probably will
But something opened
Soft and true
Like life had met itself
Right through
If you want, I can make this more explicitly about Naomi or Daniel, or turn the song into a ukulele chord sheet.
