The Crooked Coat Hook

We were fixing up the hallway
For the people coming through
You said leave that crooked coat hook
Dad could never make it true
I was holding up the level
Then I put the thing away

The crooked coat hook
Let it lean the way it leans
Somebody put his hands here
Let a little of him be

We had sorted all the jackets
We had emptied every drawer
Found a receipt for two small coffees
From the place he took us before
Now the hallway looks much bigger
And the hook still points left

The crooked coat hook
Let it lean the way it leans
Somebody put his hands here
Let a little of him be

There's a difference between mending
And erasing where he'd been
I can fix the broken window
I don't need to straighten him

The crooked coat hook
Let it lean the way it leans
Somebody put his hands here
Let a little of him be

The crooked coat hook
Hang my jacket there instead