…

#8 of 20.

you sang to me

i was falling down
invisibly
when you sang to me

i was all mixed up
and missing pieces
then you sang to me

blood
soaking through my shirt
a well of silence
a bundle of nerves
i tunnelled to the lighthouse
for the mercy of words
i’d never have heard
here
i’d never have heard

as a dial tone
the border guards
barely glanced at me
i was hanging up
a missing person
then you answered me

swooned
in your summoned rain
of skeleton keys
that sprang us
from our cages
and drowned out the advances
of a coming ice age
we have to be brave
dear
we have to be brave

(from “raised by swans is the name of a man, vol. 2: run with the silent wildfires”. available now. all lyrics and music written and performed by e. howden)