The light comes through like honey Through the cracks above the bed It turns the dust to amber It turns the room to dread I see a face I almost know Behind the golden haze A kitchen table, morning coffee Ordinary days Someone called me by a name That is not the name I use Someone held me in a hallway With nothing left to lose The amber veil descends Between the was and is And I press my hands against it But it will not let me kiss Amber veil Amber veil I can see the life I lived But I cannot touch its face Amber veil Amber veil Every memory preserved In a tomb I cannot trace Was I someone's daughter? Was I someone's shore? Did I have a window garden? Did I lock a painted door? The light keeps showing fragments A hand, a laugh, a room And then the veil comes down again And I'm alone with whom I have become Amber veil Amber veil I can see the life I lived But I cannot touch its face Amber veil Amber veil Every memory preserved In a tomb I cannot trace I don't want to remember If remembering means Standing at the window Of a house I'll never clean I don't want to forget If forgetting means Becoming just a body Walking through someone else's dreams But the amber veil is thinning And the light is getting through And I am terrified of knowing What is waiting on the other side of You
