The Beautiful Decay

(Intro operatic, unaccompanied) I have spoken to the ceiling for so long it has learned to speak back in my voice (Verse I) The clock repeats its mouth without a sound I count the hours like a man counts wounds Each room I leave is still the room I'm in The mirror shows a face I cannot own Walls expand and walls contract at will The acoustic bones of this house remember me I fed them silence — now they feed it back In frequencies no living thing should hear (Pre-Chorus) Something moves beneath the familiar dark Something that was me before the quiet broke me apart (Chorus ) I am the echo of a door that no one opened I am the candle that the dark forgot to kill Loneliness has hands — it has been steering Long before I knew I lost the wheel Still — so still — the beautiful decay Still — so still — I learned to love this way