Rosy Veil Collapse

Circle in the garden,

little hands in time

Petals on the air and a chill behind the

rhyme

Smiling at the color,

at the sweetness in the breeze While the ground below us keeps

a history of grief We were taught to spin it like a

game we always knew But the words keep opening a darker point

of view Round and round we dress the danger up in bloom

Sing it like a lantern in a darkened room

Every little laugh is a veil upon the truth Closer to the

center, closer to the proof

Ring around the roses,

spinning through the smoke Play it like a memory,

a tender little joke Ashes in the sky and the children all

sway We fall down,

we fall down, then we rise another day

Round and round, we sway

Ashes drift away

We

fall down, we sway

We remember, we stay Maybe it was fever,

maybe loss we could not name

Maybe just a warning hidden softly in a game

Mothers kept the rhythm so the fear could turn to song

Children kept it living and they carried it along

Now I hear the circle like a bell inside the chest

Joy and dread together,

never letting either rest

Round and round, the pretty words can hide a flame

Round and round, we pass the story on by name

If we sing it loudly,

if we hold each other near Even ancient sorrow turns to something

we can hear

Ring around the roses,

spinning through the smoke Play it like a memory,

a tender little joke Ashes in the sky and the children all

sway We fall down,

we fall down, then we rise another day I can see the

old world turning in a simple ring Sorrow dressed in color,

trying hard to sing Tiny feet and daylight,

thunder under skin What we call a playground is where memory begins

If the rhyme survives us,

let it mean we faced the night

Held each other closer and stepped back into the light

Ring around the roses,

spinning through the smoke Play it like a memory,

a tender little joke

Ashes in the sky and the children all sway

We fall down, we fall down,

then we rise another day Ring around the roses,

hold me in the blaze Turn the old fear into a song

we

dare

to

raise

Ashes in the sky but the heart still finds a way

We fall down, we fall down,

then we rise another day Round and round the roses

Ashes on the air We fall down together

We rise because we care