In the parking lot the dark becomes two panes of light
There's a charcoal slash of ocean and a smoky plank of sky
Now they're changing colors
Laurel green with snowy aster
Agate blue with alabaster

And as the blues are brightening and the cars are coming in
You see a seagull weave a path upon the wind
Like a thread that can begin and then begin

While the world just goes about its day
As the ground beneath you falls away
In this time when there's no time
There is no place to be
What bird did you see?

You think a goldfinch is enchanted and you know you told her
Now a goldfinch lands above you like it's on your shoulder
Yesterday you saw a red-tailed hawk
Around a corner proud and still
Out of place, a sentinel

And at the window when the sparrows flew away
A single cardinal seemed to know he had to stay
He had to be the bright vermilion in the gray

While the world just goes about its day
As the ground beneath you falls away
In the presence of this absence
Was there one bright flash, a simple song, a reverie?
What bird did you see?

You will feel the summer sun and autumn rays
You will return to busy friends and busy days
But now in this time
Between the here and the hereafter
There's a feather at your door

And love will find its way
In the life you have today
You'll go back to what you understand
Maybe unbelieve
But tell me now, what bird did you see?
It's okay to know it's me