mother tongue

(album: recently - 2019)

The street beneath my feet is paved with rows of gold
Or so I'm told

The sky before my eyes is never colour grey
Or so they say

I guess I've known the truth since I was pretty young
That I never knew my mother's mother tongue
I'll fake all of my words till they point out to me
The crowds of purple orchid flowers
I can't see

I'll play along with borrowed chords until they shine
They're still not mine
I'll breathe all of these postcards in until they land
Still second-hand

She gave me half my bones and made me one my lungs
But the same cold air is filling both of them
Meanwhile a crocodile points out what's left behind
The filed of yellow daffodils you tried
But couldn't find

I've known since I was pretty young I
Never knew my mother's mother tongue
I'm putting on a smile made out of plasticine
And looking clean