What To Keep And What To Throw Away Lyrics - Ashes & Roses - Mary Chapin Carpenter

These are your instructions 

Should you choose to follow 

Sit down with pen and paper 

Begin with something hollow 

Like the last words that he offered 

No kind of explanation 

They only take up space here 

You do not need to save them 

Open up the closet 

Find his winter coat there 

Check inside the pockets 

Find a crumpled note there 

It says "milk and Sunday paper" 

And a heart smudged in blue ink 

Fold it up and box it before you've time to think 

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Sundays are the hardest 

Avoid familiar back roads 

Erase the old phone numbers 

Delete all the photos 

And those you haven't heard from 

Will come as no surprise 

They made their calculation 

When they chose a side 

These are your instructions 

When you become reclusive 

When old friends say they miss you 

When sleep becomes elusive 

Fill up every journal 

Empty every shoebox 

Burn the lists and letters 

Sweep out all the old thoughts 

Shake off all the covers 

Throw every window open 

Stand here in your bare feet 

Welcome in the morning 

These are your instructions 

When grace has left you stranded 

When you are lost and wounded 

Bleeding and abandoned 

Photos 

Use a tourniquet for pressure 

Let time do it's healing 

Say prayers for good measure 

When you think you've lost all feeling 

Now walk into the guest room 

The last place he was sleeping 

See the outline on the pillow 

Smooth it without weeping 

One last final walk through 

Now move the bags and boxes 

From front porch onto back seat 

Haul away the losses 

These are your instructions 

If you choose to follow 

Stop and take a big breath 

Begin with something hollow...