Heirloom

You try your hardest to leave the past alone
This crooked posture is all you’ve ever known
It is the consequence of living in between
The weight of family and the pull of gravity

You are so much more than your father’s son
You are so much more than what I’ve become

Long before you were born there was light
Hidden deep in these young, unfamiliar eyes
A million choices, though little on their own
Become the heirloom of the heaviness you’ve known

You are so much more than your father’s son
You are so much more than what I’ve become
What I’ve become
What I’ve become

You pressed rewind
For the thousandth time
When the tapes wore through
So you memorized
Those unscripted lines
Desperate for some kind of clue:
When the scale tipped
When you inherited
A fight that you were born to lose
It’s not your fault
No, it’s not your fault
I put this heavy heart in you
I put this heavy heart in you

You remind me of who I could have been
Had I been stronger and braver way back then
A million choices, though little on their own
Became the heirloom of the heaviness we’ve known

You are so much more than your father’s son
You are so much more than the wars you’ve won
You are so much more than your father’s son
You are so much more than what I’ve become