I fold the letter by the dying lamp Your final sentence stains the page The house has learned the shape of absence Each room recites your name I carried hope until it broke A splinter buried in my hand Let the last bell cross the valley Let the empty fields remain I will wear this quiet ending Like a crown without a name The winter basin holds no water The orchard gives a bitter fruit I count the chairs around the table And leave one place for you No return No answer No mercy in the morning I descend beneath the burden And surrender what was burning Let the last bell cross the valley Let the empty fields remain I will wear this quiet ending Like a crown without a name If grief is all that stays beside me I will not ask it to depart There are wounds that lose their language There are graves inside the heart Bury the promise Break the remains Silence the question Accept the chains Let the last bell cross the valley Let the empty fields remain I will wear this quiet ending And forget the shape of pain
