Intro
Hallow Lake froze black by the first December blade
Saw teeth cracked the silence before the sun was made
Father's name meant nothing till the ice came in hard
Then the whole town called him keeper of the yard
Verse
Sixteen, hands wrapped in burlap, tar under the nail
First cut ran crooked, second cut told a straighter tale
Tongs bit steel into my palm like a debt collector
Lake don't forgive a mistake, it just lets you correct her
Block by block we packed the sawdust house up high
Thick enough to hold December through July
Horse named Solomon pulled sledges 'cross the white
Breath came out in ribbons, curling toward the light
Foreman said the crooked cuts get sold off half
Said a straight line's worth a winter, don't you laugh
Split my knuckle open on the eighth day of the row
Kept on cutting, watched it freeze red in the snow
Momma packed the wagon, said don't come home till dark
Said a man who quits the cold don't leave a mark
By March my arms were rope, my spine a bridge of ache
First winter taught me ice remembers every mistake
Hook
Nine winters, one name
Cut it cold, it never changed
Frost don't lie, frost don't fade
Nine winters, one name
Verse
Second winter I could read the lake like scripture
Black ice hums different than the white, different texture
Showed the younger boys where the current ran too thin
Where the surface looked solid but the bottom caved in
By year five they dropped my given name for Keeper
Titles come from blisters, not from talking deeper
Sixth winter lost a man named Ambrose to the deep
Ice looks like a promise, then it don't keep
