[Opening — Phoenix] High in the night my wings caught fire Flames ran down the tips of every feather until my body burned red in the dark How many times? I stopped counting long ago Burn away return again That was always the way of the world [Burn] My wings fell apart My voice disappeared The final flame collapsed into ash Darkness [Refrain] I would return I always thought I would [Awakening] I opened my eyes An unfamiliar ceiling Someone was holding me I tried to speak A baby’s cry came out I tried to move my wings Nothing Only two small hands in front of me Five fingers on each Someone called me by a name I’d never heard [Scene 1] When I was seven I cut my knee Blood came The next morning the wound was still there I touched it waited until noon waited until night Three days later the mark was still there [Refrain] I would return I always thought I would [Scene 2] When I was fifteen the chair my grandfather used was gone from the room “He’s not coming back.” They told me but I didn’t understand what those words meant For a week every sound at the door made me look up A month later the place where his chair had been still looked too wide [Refrain] I would return I always thought I would [Scene 3] At twenty-eight I dropped a glass in the kitchen I gathered the pieces and put them in a bag Once breaking and ending had never meant the same thing I tied the bag shut This time I didn’t wait [Scene 4] At forty-three I found a white hair beside the mirror I pulled it out The next year there were more At fifty-six I took an old photograph from a drawer The person in it was someone I could never become again [Break] Spring came Summer came Autumn came Winter came Then spring again Only the names were the same Not one spring ever came back [Final Scene] An old man now I light a small fire in the yard A branch turns black loses its shape The flame grows smaller then disappears Only ash remains Once this was where it all began [Silence] I watch the ash One second Two seconds Three seconds [Outro] Nothing happens I look at my hands An old scar runs between the wrinkles I don’t touch the ash I stand close the door The light inside goes out [Final] In the yard only the ash remains
