Lanterns In The Snow

The snow came down on a tired town Like a promise no

one made

Streetlight halos on frozen ground Where the night shift learns to pray

I was younger then,

or so I thought With a song and a borrowed coat

Chasing answers I never found Down a long,

unmarked road

Some nights speak without a sound

Just a glance that understands There's comfort in the way you're found

Without reaching for a hand

Every word is chosen slow

Every silence knows its place There are things the heart will know

That words cannot betray

And the years move on like a river bends Never asking what

we know

You learn to lose,

you learn to mend You learn what you can't outgrow

There's a light that waits in the quiet hours When the world

feels overrun

Like lanterns burning in the snow When the long day's done

I don't question how or why

Some roads cross when they do I've learned enough to let things

lie

And I still will see them through

There are ties that don't belong

To the names that lovers use

Some are held to light the way

Not to burn the truth

And the years move on like a river bends

Carving truth from stone

We carry more than what we claim We leave some things alone

There's a warmth that doesn't ask

To be chosen or outshone

Just lanterns burning in the snow Till the dark is gone

I've seen the cost of easy flames

And how quickly they can spread

Some fires live being fueled by words And others left unsaid It's

not the line we never crossed

That weighs upon the soul

It's knowing what we chose to guard And why we can't let

go

I return to rooms I know by heart To a life that

still rings true

But something in the quiet dark Still learned to wake in you

Maybe love is only this— A mirror held up slow

To show us what still lives inside And what we choose to

own

And the years move on like a river bends Leaving marks we

don't outrun

You're not the first,

but you are the last To show me I'm not done

There's a light I'll carry through the storms Though the night feels

long

Like lanterns burning in the snow Until I'm safely home

When the winter withdraws its quiet hold And the ground begins to

show

Some lights were never meant to fade Just guide us as we

go