Under the old stone arch

Under the old stone arch, I count the turning rain
A brass key warms my palm, then cools again
You leave one door unlatched, one candle nearly gone
I follow where the silence says to carry on.

Every room remembers
Every stair gives way
I can feel the hidden engine
Turning underneath the clay.

Take me past the boundary
Past the bell and buried flame
If the dark has kept your answer
I will learn to speak its name.

A map beneath the dust reveals a broken coast
Red ink around the place where we were almost ghosts
You say the tide is rising, I say the tide can wait
But all the clocks are leaning toward the eastern gate.

We are not the ones who vanished
We are not the final sound
With a hand against the ceiling
We can feel the world turn round.

Take me past the boundary
Past the bell and buried flame
If the dark has kept your answer
I will learn to speak its name.

When the last door opens wide
And the floor gives up its claim
I will carry what you left me
I will carry it through flame.