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Counting Descent Lyrics by Clint Smith

Counting Descent

0

After Alan Michael Parker

My grandfather is a quarter century
older than his right to vote & two
decades younger than the President
who signed the paper that made it so

He married my grandmother when they
Were four years younger than I am now
& were twice as sure about each other
than I’ve ever been about most things.

They had six children separated by nine
years, three cities & one Mason Dixon
line; there were twice as many boys as girls
but half as many bedrooms as children

which most days didn’t matter because poor
ain’t poor unless you name it so & kids
prefer playing to counting so there was never
much time to wallow in anything but laughter.

My mother was the third youngest or the
third oldest depending on who you ask. She
was born on a federal holiday which my
grandmother was thankful for, said the Good

Lord only got one day off when he built
the world, so one day is all she needed too.
Mom says Dad was persistent, wouldn’t give up
when he asked if he could take her down the

street to get some coffee which back then cost
two dollars less than it is now. Now my
mom is trying to stop drinking coffee but still
loves my dad, they’ve been married for thirty-

one years & have three kids who are six
years & 3,551 miles apart. My birth
took twelve hours & forty-three minutes which
is probably because my head is five

times too big. My mom said that my
head was big because I needed enough
room to read all the books in the library
which seemed like infinity even though

I didn’t really know what infinity meant
but I had heard my teacher say it once
when she talked about the universe &
books felt like the universe to me. I was

pretty good at math too, until about fifth grade
when they started putting numbers & letters
together which didn’t make much sense.
My brother is seventy months younger

than me but is taller & knows more about
numbers so it doesn’t always feel like this is true.
My sister is twenty-four years of loyal
& eight years of best friend. I am the oldest

of three but maybe the most naive, I still believe
we can build this world into something new,
some place where I can live past twenty-five &
it’s not a cause for celebration because these days

I celebrate every breath, tried to start counting
them so I wouldn’t take each one for granted.
I wish I could give my breath to the boys who
had theirs taken but I’ve stopped counting

because it feels like there are too many
boys & not enough breath to go around.
Credits
Clint Smith

Clint Smith

About “Counting Descent” by Clint Smith

Read the complete lyrics to "Counting Descent" by Clint Smith from the album "Counting Descent". On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Literature, Non-Music, Poetry.

"Counting Descent" is performed by Clint Smith. from the album "Counting Descent" This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "Counting Descent", explore more songs by Clint Smith using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

View all songs and biography for Clint Smith · Trending lyrics · Billboard Hot 100

Frequently asked questions

"Counting Descent" is credited to Clint Smith. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

"Counting Descent" appears on "Counting Descent".

Visit the Clint Smith artist page at /artist/clint-smith for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.

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