Apron by the Door

Your chair is still by the window

The kettle waits on the stove

I pass the little blue apron

And lose the words I know

You left a jar of buttons

A note in your careful hand

Now every small thing in this house

Feels bigger than I planned

I keep reaching for your voice

Like it's still right down the hall

Then the quiet turns to echo

And it answers none at all

Oh Grandma, stay with me

Stay in the bread you made

Stay in the quilt you mended

Stay in the games we played

Oh Grandma, stay with me

In the room, in the rain, in the flame

If I say your name aloud

I can feel you near again

I found your chipped white teacup

Behind the stack of plates

The rose on the side is fading

But it still looks like you made

I sat with your old stories

At the edge of the bed

And every laugh you gave me

Kept ringing in my head

I keep reaching for your voice

Like it's still right down the hall

Then the quiet turns to echo

And it answers none at all

Oh Grandma, stay with me

Stay in the bread you made

Stay in the quilt you mended

Stay in the games we played

Oh Grandma, stay with me

In the room, in the rain, in the flame

If I say your name aloud

I can feel you near again

I don't know how to hold this

How to make my hands be still

But I know love don't leave the table

It just changes where it lives

So I'll light the porch on Sunday

Set an extra plate for you

And in the life you handed me

I'll do the things you do

Oh Grandma, stay with me

Stay in the bread you made

Stay in the quilt you mended

Stay in the games we played

Oh Grandma, stay with me

In the room, in the rain, in the flame

If I say your name aloud

I can feel you near again

Oh Grandma, stay with me

Stay with me today