November air, thin as paper
The festival grounds at dusk
Strangers gathering with candles
Someone hands me one
Doesn't ask questions
Just knows
Ink on tissue, breath on flame
Ready to release
Watch them climb, carrying everything we couldn't say
Lifting higher, higher than our voices break
(Higher, higher)
Paper wings against the dark
Burning bright, then fading far
Watch them climb away
Been writing your name in margins
For six months now
Crumpled drafts beneath my bed
Words that won't land anywhere
But here—this fragile shell
This borrowed light
String untethered, hands let go
Ready to believe
Watch them climb, carrying everything we couldn't say
Lifting higher, higher than our voices break
(Higher, higher)
Paper wings against the dark
Burning bright, then fading far
Watch them climb away
One hundred lights above me
Your laugh in the wind chimes
I wrote"forgive me" on mine
Released it to the stars
And maybe that's enough
Maybe that's the way through
Not holding on forever
Just holding long enough to feel
Then letting the sky take it
Watch them climb, carrying everything we couldn't say
Lifting higher, higher than our voices break
(Higher, higher, higher)
Paper wings against the dark
Still burning as they disappear
Watch them climb
Watch them climb away
November air
Lighter now