Smoldering Coal

A song lyric

On my eyelids, my eyelids,

I've painted my eyes, only

wider and cooler in hue.

I've closed off the roads to my

smoldering soul, in steam

extinguished by the early-morning

dew.

My legs are in the ground, my ears too

full of sand to hear the sound of

songbirds that flicker out of view.

My hands lay the course for my heart,

heavy with remorse for all this

time that I have discarded

you.

Do you hear them singing on the way?

My feet are too deep in stone; I have to stay.

Do you hear them singing on the way?

Do you hear them sing?  I have to stay.

Oh, my eyelids, my eyelids

are heavy with the sighs of all the

time that I have slept in spite of

you.

What's left of my soul is a

smoldering coal, an ember

dim enough to flicker out of

view.

The songbirds hum in harmony with a

long-forgotten part of me that's

been replaced by a leaden weight for two.

My hands are trembling, tied and dry.

The sun will surely rise and then I'll

die outside in the early-morning

dew.