The Root

 

Words and music copyright 1978/1999 by Howard Ashby Kranz

 

 E                                                  A               E

1. There’s a sleek, storm-tossed ship in my notebook

                                           A                     E

That you drew there when we first were friends,

                  B7                     

And the puffed cheeks of West Wind

                 A                   

Blow the wild lines, in your hand;

        F#                                                                 B7

It’s strange to think I was not in love with you then.

                   E                A                   E

There are words that I said then that hurt you

                         G#                  A

Before I understood who you are.

                                                                    C#m                            A

Like infants we grope at dim shapes; like beasts slashing out in blind waste,

        F#                                   B7                     E

We wound and we heal, but always there’s a scar.

 

                       E                       A               E

2. There’s an old fallen stone wall by the river

                                            A                     E

Where some true, painful thoughts were revealed.

                        B7                      

Though that wall’s cracked and broken,

            A                     

When our wounds lay open

       F#                                                                    B7

Till we hugged and cried, that wall was our only shield. 

                           E                      A                       E

Though we’re close, and we’re kind, and we’re careful

                                              G#                  A

Still we’re two young souls striving in the dark.

                                                                 C#m            A

Love’s no flower that we’re dreaming; it’s a root; it’s a tough thing

                F#                                   B7                         E

Whose strength clings in twisting knots around our hearts.

                  A                                                 C#m             A

Love’s no flower that we’re dreaming; it’s a root; it’s a tough thing

                F#                                   B7                         E

Whose strength clings in twisting knots around our hearts.