You came in with your notebook
Under your arm like rain
Said every leaf has a name
If I would learn it plain
I traced the veins on the page
Like roads in the dirt
You laughed at my shaky mouth
When I said your last name first
Now I know
The hard way
Love can grow
In a lined-up row
Botanical nomenclature
Say it slow, say it now (nomenclature)
Botanical nomenclature
Put my heart in your mouth
I was wild with no label
Now I bloom when you call (nomenclature)
Botanical nomenclature
And I fall, and I fall
You pressed a stem to my palm
Said this one comes back
Even after frost and mud
Even after nights go black
I kept it in a glass jar
On the window ledge
Watched the color hold on
Watched the green run to the edge
Now I know
What you meant
Some things go
When they’re named
Botanical nomenclature
Say it slow, say it now (nomenclature)
Botanical nomenclature
Put my heart in your mouth
I was wild with no label
Now I bloom when you call (nomenclature)
Botanical nomenclature
And I fall, and I fall
If I’m a thorn
Then hold me
If I’m a seed
Then roll me
You taught me the names
Of the parts I hid
Now I’m breaking the soil
Like I never did
Botanical nomenclature
Say it slow, say it now (nomenclature)
Botanical nomenclature
Put my heart in your mouth
I was wild with no label
Now I bloom when you call (nomenclature)
Botanical nomenclature
And I fall, and I fall