Cold snapped like a coiled spring;
You can feel the frost is coming on
We are marigolden - dropping orange and umber,
Just barely holding on
And now downtown's dolled up with tinsel and angels
Seasons sneak like haircuts, teased apart and tangled
We were fraying for a while, but we took it all down
Like the garland hanging off traffic signals
But leave the lights on
Cause it might be nighttime when I get there
But I'm on my way home
Putting on old clothes in a new way
Putting on the pose of a new stage
Waking up everyday just a little bit changed
While it breaks over us like waves
Long live beauty; short live pain
Lust for wonder and hunger pangs
Face your fear, but do not shame:
It doesn't end; it just wears away
But leave the lights on
Cause it might be nighttime when I get there
But I'm on my way home
I've been clawing away at what's underneath:
Closer than solid ground beneath your feet
Closer, even now, than lips and teeth
Closer now, then out of reach
And the body remembers what the mind forgets:
Archives every heartbreak, every cigarette
These reset bones? They might not hold,
But they might yet
Leave the lights on
Cause it might be nighttime when I get there
But I'm on my way home