Verse 1
The paddle draw put us together
Neither one of us asked why
You took the even side without a word
I took the odd and watched the sky
Didn't know your game
Didn't know your name
Just two strangers at the kitchen
Verse 2
First few points we danced around each other
Both of us protecting our own ground
Middle ball dropped soft between our paddles
Neither one of us made a sound
You glanced back at me
I just let it be
Two strangers at the kitchen
Verse 3
You took a chance and poached across the middle
I was already moving to your side
Covered the corner like we'd drilled it a thousand times
Neither one of us had to decide
Something unspoken
Something unbroken
Two strangers at the kitchen
Pre-Chorus
But somewhere around five
Something shifted in the air
You called the middle ball
And I was already there
We found a language
Without saying a word
Two paddles reading
What the other one heard
Cover left, I'll take the right
Hold the kitchen, trust the fight
Strangers at the kitchen
Finding their way
By the end of the game
We knew how to play
Verse 4
You put one down the line, I moved to cover
I reset soft, you finished at the net
The kind of play that takes a lifetime learning
Or sometimes just one game you won't forget
No names exchanged
Just the way we played
Two strangers at the kitchen
Bridge — sparse, almost spoken
Rec play gives you this sometimes
A stranger who just fits
You don't know where they came from
Don't know where they go
Just eleven points of something
You can't explain
And then the paddle draw spins again
And they're gone
Final Chorus — Fuller, Warmer
We found a language
Without saying a word
Two paddles reading
What the other one heard
Cover left, I'll take the right
Hold the kitchen, trust the fight
Strangers at the kitchen
Just passing through
Funny what a game of pickleball
Can do