Burning Quiet

Night hangs low over these empty lanes My chest keeps time with

a tired flame

Street signs blur like names I used to know I walk too

slow with nowhere left to go The dark sky leans on every

window frame And every thought comes back and calls my name There's

smoke in me though nothing here is lit A burning chest and

I am stuck in it I laugh once thin,

then let the silence spread Like broken glass still glittering in my

head My heartbeat hits like shoes on the concrete One more round

with the fear underneath If I go down,

let it hear me

breathe I am not done,

not tonight, not me

I won't drown in the dark tonight

I won't break where the cold winds bite

From the scars and the silent weight I rise again,

I rise again When my mind says I'm far too late I

rise again, I rise again

These empty streets know every step I fake They heard the promises

I couldn't make I wore my calm like paint against the rain

It peeled away and showed the nerve and strain The mirror caught

the red around my eyes A man half ash,

half truth, half alibis But in that wreck a small light cut

the haze A wire of will still humming through the blaze My

heartbeat hits and I can feel it change

Pain had a grip,

now it's giving way

If I go down,

I'll come back and speak I am not done,

not tonight, not me

I won't drown in the dark tonight I won't break where the

cold winds bite

From the scars and the silent weight I rise again,

I rise again When my mind says I'm far too late I

rise again, I rise again

No one came, so I answered my own name Hands shaking hard,

still I held that flame The silence moved,

and I moved with it too

One small step, but it was mine,

it was true I won't drown in the dark tonight

I won't break where the cold winds bite

From the scars and the silent weight I rise again,

I rise again

Hear my blood turn the fear to flame I rise again,

I rise again

Even bent, I will not fade I rise again,

I rise again

Night still stands, but I can face the road A quieter fire

carries all this load