Gone

[Verse 1] I hate the silence in the room It feels like a denial Of the life we shared I hate that empty chair Fifty-one years don't vanish Because a heartbeat has gone still My hands still know The shape of loving But have nothing left to hold [Pre-Chorus] So I speak your name Into the darkness Just to hear that you were real I write because I cannot touch you I write because I need to feel I sing, I scream, I cry I watch your photos endlessly Because I need you near [Chorus] Arlette, you are gone But not from me I carry what The world can't see I tell them who you were I tell them what we knew Because they must remember you And when the night gets wide I look for you in dreams and tears If grief is love Then loving you Is all I know [Verse 2] So I write the chaos Into sentences I give my sorrow words and form Perhaps if I can name The broken pieces I can make them come alive I keep your voice In every line I save I hold it like a flame [Chorus] Arlette, you are gone But not from me I carry what The world can't see I tell them who you were I tell them what we knew Because they must remember you And when the night gets wide I look for you in dreams and tears If grief is love Then loving you Is all I know [Bridge] Am I grieving wrong? Am I holding on too long? Should I stop saying your name? Should I learn to live again? But how could I forget The woman who became my home? I don't want to erase the pain I only fear being alone You were not a chapter You were the book I lived inside [Final Chorus] Arlette, you are gone But not from me You are woven through The man I came to be The world may see a widower But I still see my wife And every memory Is proof we had a life So let me say your name Let me tell them who you were Let me cry when I need to cry And smile when I remember you Because keeping you in words Is how I keep you near It’s love with nowhere left to go And I will love you here [Outro] You are gone I am still here And somewhere between those truths I'm learning how to live