He had a black book wrapped in his little hands
Its binding was frayed with age
It kept his heart held safe when the backs of his hands seemed strange
He knew that top shelf better than he knew himself
It gave him strength to face the day
But then he lost his pride when his mother died
And as the church bells rang, still he sang
“Hallelujah” to everyone
“Hallelujah” like never before
“Hallelujah” to all of the memories that made him miss her more
A couple years went by before he said goodbye
And the pages continued to turn
He had them memorized, every single line
That his mother had taught him to sing
And it sounded like
“Hallelujah” to everyone
“Hallelujah” like never before
“Hallelujah” to all of the shining seas
And all of their shining shores
And when the image of his mother is gracing his sleeping thoughts
In the morning he wakes and prays all the things that he dreamt of
All because he never once thought of happiness as compromising his fears
Some day he’ll love again and all the lessons she taught him then will appear