Promise Is a Pendulum

I could never build the ether Or the grass overgrown I could never build the river With a mouthful of foam I could never build the winter With her cold tears of glitter I've been listening to the red oak And the acorn she cries Listening to the white birch And the paper she dries I've been listening to the frog's joke Listening to the firesmoke I can never tell you now What I'd often said before Because promise is a pendulum Just swinging at the door And I'm not saying I'm not jealous Or scared anymore I'm just saying I could never build a rainbow Or any kind of flower I could never make a sparrow Or a meteor shower I could never build an earthworm Could never make the earth turn I've been listening to the laughing Of the fox down the trail I've been clasping to the listening of the moss to the snail The shimmer of the beech leaves As the wind does a big sneeze I could never tell you now What I'd often said before Because promise is a pendulum Just swinging at the door And I'm not saying I'm not jealous Or scared anymore I'm just saying I could never build the shadow Between your cheek and your eye I could never make a freckle or the warm breath you sigh In the canopy of lashes With the softness of ashes I've been listening to the memory The way that it was Listening to the echo of whys and because Listening to the echo Telling me to let go I could never tell you now What I'd often said before Because promise is a pendulum Just hanging at the door And I'm not saying I'm not jealous Or scared anymore I'm just saying Saying --- Promise Is a Pendulum - Big Thief