The Hardest Grace

I see the faces in the subway crowd A thousand stories crying out aloud It’s easy to be kind to those I’ll never meet To offer up a smile on a crowded street They don’t know my name or where I’ve been There’s no heavy history under their skin No debts to pay, no words to take back Just a moment of light on a lonely track But the closer you get, the higher the wall The harder it feels when we start to fall If love is a mirror, it’s easy to shine But I want a love that’s truly divine Unconditional flame in a world of conditions Breaking the cycle of our old traditions I’ll love you when you’re cold and far away I’ll love you through the silence of the day Even if you never say it back to me That’s the only way to set my spirit free Conditional hearts have a price on the soul A ledger of debts to keep under control I’ll give you my hand if you promise your heart But that’s just a gamble, a tear in the art The people who hurt us are hardest to hold When the story is bitter and the coffee is cold It’s a jagged pill, a mountain to climb To give away grace at the scene of the crime But the stranger is easy because they don’t bleed Into the cracks of the life that I lead If love is a mirror, it’s easy to shine But I want a love that’s truly divine Unconditional flame in a world of conditions Breaking the cycle of our old traditions I’ll love you when you’re cold and far away I’ll love you through the silence of the day Even if you never say it back to me That’s the only way to set my spirit free It’s a radical choice to be open and wide With nowhere to run and nowhere to hide When you pull back your hand and you turn to the wall I’m standing right here, I’ll answer the call Not because I have to, or because you do too But because it’s the light that I’m passing to you If love is a mirror, it’s easy to shine But I want a love that’s truly divine Unconditional flame in a world of conditions Breaking the cycle of our old traditions I’ll love you when you’re cold and far away I’ll love you through the silence of the day Even if you never say it back to me That’s the only way to set my spirit free