I remember writing this song on the train ride home from work. There is a place between the University Heights and Marble Hill stations where the tracks curve to follow the bend of the Harlem River and the train gets its closest to the water. It was at that spot, on one of those Spring or Summer afternoons, when the sun was still up on my way home from work, that the light shimmering on the water’s ripples caught my eye, and I felt the smoke rising up from my heart. And I thought of the woman who first lit its spark. And the words came…

If I wanted money, I could buy this place
If I wanted other lovers that's what I would chase
but what I want to see is the look on your face
when the sun rises in the morning and love finds a way
to put its flowers between the thorns and plant its seed inside both our hearts

Joining me on this track, and on every other track on this album, is Julie Rozansky on bass and vocals. Chris DeRosa adds his forceful and thoughtful drum patterns. Reed Black captures our waves of sound and molds them into the song you can listen to here.

All of it inspired by the kind of love that can raise my spirit from the dregs of a workday to higher ground in the realm of the eternal.

You can see it in our eyes when we arise.

Smoke is rising
Up from my heart
It’s been burning so long
I can’t remember how it started but
I know it was you
I know it was you that lit the spark

If I wanted money, i could buy this place
If I wanted other lovers that’s what i would chase
What I want is to see
What I want is to see the look on your face

When the sun rises in the morning
And love finds a way
To put its flowers between the thorns
And plant its seed inside both our hearts
Where it knows
Where it knows there’s always time to grow a rose
And we realize 
You can see it with our eyes when we arise
When we arise
When we arise