Porchlight Confessions (version 2)

Intro

Denway Street count porches, not addresses

Ms. Odell's chair still creak past midnight

Extension cord run porch to porch like veins

One bulb burning tells you who's alright

Verse 1

Nine years old, I ran the code down Denway block

Two knocks quiet, one light on, that's how the porch talk

Ms. Odell taught me count the switches, not the steps

Said a lit bulb worth more than any promise kept

I'd carry folded notes tucked in my sock's seam

Screen door creaking like it's whispering a dream

Learned the difference 'tween a warning and a wave

Two lights meant get scarce, one light meant you're safe

Denny's mama left her porch dark for a week

Whole block held its breath, nobody dared to speak

I was the one who ran and told her when to hide

Felt the weight of every secret I let slide

Moths circling that bulb like they were keeping watch too

Casting shadows on the stories nobody wanted the truth

Learned the language of a bulb before I learned my letters

Porchlight raised me right when the block taught different measures

Hook

One light on, means somebody's safe

Two lights on, means don't come near

Porch is where we keep the faith

Confessions only porches hear

Verse 2

Grew to seventeen, still reading bulbs like scripture

Denny's older now, running a different picture

Called me one July, said his light been dark three nights

I told myself he's fine, kept walking past that sight

Told myself the code don't apply once you're grown

Found out later that's the lie that made him alone

His mama's porch went dark for good that autumn

Extension cord still hangs there, nobody bought a new one

I carry that like a scar I don't show in daylight

Lear