The Fork in the Road

[Intro]
I left my coat on the station chair
Two paper maps in the midnight air
Your last blue letter beside my hand
And every road runs out of land

[Verse 1]
I gave my Sunday to the one who called
My best advice to the one who stalled
I kept three promises past their end
And called each ending a chance to mend

You asked me which way I meant to go
I named four towns I would never know
Now at the fork where the mile signs lean
I can't tell duty from what I mean

[Pre-Chorus]
I spent my yes like borrowed light
Till every window asked for mine
Now all these paths are pulling hard
And I can’t read my own heart

[Chorus]
At the fork in the road, I’m standing still
With a thousand names and a borrowed will
I gave my love till the well ran dry
Now which way home, and whose reply?
If I turn back, who waits in the rain?
If I walk on, do I lose them again?
I can’t keep every hand in mine
I have to choose one road this time

[Verse 2]
There’s Mara’s porch with the chipped green rail
There’s your train leaving past the old grain scale
There’s a long white road to a quiet place
Where no one knows me by my giving face

I hear their needs like a kitchen clock
Each little knock, each little knock
But underneath that familiar call
A small clear voice says, “You can’t save them all”

[Pre-Chorus]
I thought that love meant staying near
No matter what it cost me here
But a heart can open, still need a door
And I can’t pour from an empty drawer

[Chorus]
At the fork in the road, I’m standing still
With a thousand names and a borrowed will
I gave my love till the well ran dry
Now which way home, and whose reply?
If I turn back, who waits in the rain?
If I walk on, do I lose them again?
I can’t keep every hand in mine
I have to choose one road this time

[Instrumental Break]

[Bridge]
The map is soft from the years I held it
The ink has run where the tears fell through
No road can promise I’ll never hurt them
No kind goodbye makes the leaving untrue

So let them be angry, let them be changed
Let the old picture come loose from its frame
I’ll carry the love, but not every demand
And take one step with my own two hands

[Final Chorus]
At the fork in the road, I’m moving now
No grand answer, no sacred vow
I gave my love till I could not see
The road that might belong to me
If some turn away, I’ll grieve what we had
If some come along, we’ll make the miles glad
I can’t keep every hand in mine
But I can choose a road this time

[Outro]
One step, one breath, the morning starts
A little more room inside my heart
The road bends out beyond my sight
I choose the way that feels like mine