Beth Killian - Grandmother's Mother Lyrics

The mother of my grandmother's mother
Still lives in my throat
When she cries it chokes me
All the things she did to survive are etched in my bones
Hope she knows

I'm louder than she could be
Her words an echo
And mine the waves of the sea

All the times I try to say the perfect thing in every moment
I trace it to
The pressure passed down from the ones prioritizing
The pressure that turns earth into a diamond

The force that the father of my grandfather's father wielded
Can I release
With open eyes not embracing or denying just seeing
How it's a part of me

Hold their memory
Imagine how they'd act if they saw what I see
Release their legacy
Transform it with softness of the warmest breeze

Will the daughter of my nephew's daughter
Still feel the pain of my grandmother's shame
All the things she'll do to survive
Awake in my veins
Wish I could say

Perfection is directionless and if i were to
Question it
Would their legacy
Allow me to break the very systems they created
Let their spirits free
Free