Cradle In The Dust (Version 1)

[intro] [soft wind, distant music box melody, low synth swells] I had a name picked out You never knew that part I wrote it on the wall in ink Then painted over heart by heart [verse 1] I still have that list of cities Where we said we’d disappear The house with ivy on the porch The dog we’d name — it’s still unclear [verse 2] I watched your hands like prophecy Thought they’d build cribs and carry bags But time collapsed like rotting beams And left me here among the cracks [pre-chorus] They say not all loss has a grave But I buried us just the same [chorus 1] There's a cradle in the dust Where our forever turned to rust I rock it gently when no one sees Pretending there's a breath, a beat We never fought, we never screamed We just fell out of the dream And now I mourn a life that died Before it ever breathed alive [instrumental interlude] [minor-key guitar harmonics, soft strings layered with clock ticks] [verse 3] I found the rings we never wore Still in the drawer you left ajar I tried them on — they fit just fine Then cried myself into the dark [verse 4] We never said goodbye, not loud But silence grew and wrapped me tight You faded like the end of fall Before we ever reached the light [pre-chorus] I wear the ghosts of all we planned Like shadows drawn into my hands [chorus 2] There’s a cradle in the dust A hollow where I placed my trust I built a world inside my chest But it collapsed beneath the rest We never danced, we never wed I only kissed you in my head And every heartbeat since you left Is echoing what we never said [bridge] [tempo slows, reverb-heavy vocals, ambient guitar swells] I set the table for a child I never held I lit the lamp for a home We never built I named you father You never knew And I named myself Alone [spoken interlude] "You didn’t leave me… you just never stayed." [guitar solo] [aching melodic bends, rising into layered harmony with cello undercurrent] [chorus 3 – final version] There’s a cradle in the dust Where my belief turned into rust And every plan we left to die Still rocks itself when no one’s by I’ll never scream, I’ll never break But I can’t wake from what we faked So if you find me one day lost… Please brush the dust off what it cost [outro] [soft piano, music box theme from intro returns distorted and slow] I had a name picked out… I still remember it [guitar feedback hum fades into silence] [end song]