Silver In The Choir

[Verse 1] Sunday bells through painted windows Frankincense and candle smoke Silk upon my silver shoulders Laughing at some foolish joke Giuliano at my right hand Lorenzo bright as summer fire One my Heart-Guard, one my Balance Safe beneath the cathedral spire I remember turning toward him Dark curls falling in his eyes And I swear the whole world narrowed To that smile before he died [Chorus] Silver in the choir Silver in the choir My heart split open as the voices climbed higher You drew steel in a holy place And I watched death step into his face Silver in the choir Silver in the choir Tears on marble where they sang "Kyrie" You struck at Florence through blood and name And taught the Moon a different flame [Verse 2] Then the shouting broke around us Steel flashed bright and someone screamed Hands and robes and bodies moving Nothing happened as it seemed Giuliano— Gods, Giuliano— Crimson blooming through his clothes I caught him long before he struck the marble Held him as his body folded I pressed my hands against the wounds I begged and cursed and called his name Silver tears upon his dark hair Knowing nothing stayed the same He looked at me. Just once. As if to say, There you are. And then... He was gone. [Chorus] Silver in the choir Silver in the choir I felt his life leave as the voices climbed higher No prayer was loud enough to keep A soul already falling asleep Silver in the choir Silver in the choir My tears ran red where they sang "Kyrie" You killed the gentlest man I knew And left my hands with nothing to do [Bridge] [low vocal register] A Luna's heart is made for keeping. Keeping names. Keeping stories. Keeping people. And I could not keep him. So fury came and sat beside me. I tore the traitors from their hanging places. I dragged them into the spring sunlight. I left them for dogs and crows. Children came with sticks and stones. I did not stop them. Merchants spat. Widows cursed. The city watched. And I watched too. Because grief sometimes wears silver tears. And sometimes... It wears teeth. [Final Chorus] Silver in the choir Silver in the choir Echoes still ring when the bells climb higher I see his smile in every nave And remember there was nothing to save Silver in the choir Silver in the choir I loved him once and I love him still A Thalen gone, a balance broken A forever promised and never spoken Silver in the choir Silver in the choir Some wounds close and some remain And every spring in Florence whispers His name. My tears. Their shame.