Title: "Brick and Bone

[Verse 1] Dust on the window, silence thick as wine, Curtains don’t tremble, not a soul to chime. I trace the cracks in the plaster on the wall— Same ones I’ve counted through the rise and fall. Cigarette glow in the cup of my palm, A rhythm like thunder, but quiet and calm. No knock at the door, no hand at the phone— Just me and the echo… and I’m not alone. [Pre-Chorus] Oh, love comes knockin’ with roses in hand, But I know the thorns, I know the plan. Too many summers burned me to stone, So I built this room… and I guard it alone. [Chorus] Brick by brick, I bricked the light, Heart to heart, I won’t invite. Voices call from the other side— I nod, but I don’t reply… (No, I don’t reply…) Iron spine and a velvet lie, I’m warm inside, but I play it dry. Yeah, I feel— but I don’t show… Just smoke and shadows… and I’m takin’ it slow… [Verse 2] There’s a bass in the floorboard, low like a prayer, Rumbles through floorboards, echoes in air. Not a drum, not a gun— just a steady thud, Like a heart that remembers, but won’t beat in a flood. I hum a tune from a time I forgot, Half in minor, half caught in a thought. No melody escapes, no truth let roam— I guard my songs like I guard my home. [Pre-Chorus] Oh, they say, “Girl, let the light pour in,” But light brings moths, and moths bring sin. I’ve kissed the fire, I’ve tasted the flame— Now I sit with the ashes… and I breathe my own name. [Chorus] Brick by brick, I bricked the light, Heart to heart, I won’t invite. Voices call from the other side— I nod, but I don’t reply… (No, I don’t reply…) Iron spine and a velvet lie, I’m warm inside, but I play it dry. Yeah, I feel— but I don’t show… Just smoke and shadows… and I’m takin’ it slow… [Bridge] I ain’t broken… just braced for the fall. Not a prisoner… just guardin’ the hall. The world spins loud with its open doors, But my peace lives quiet behind these floors. And if I let you in… would I lose the part That sings in the dark, that heals my heart? So I’ll stay here— in this half-lit zone… Where I’m safest… when I’m alone [Final Chorus] Brick by brick, I bricked the light, Heart to heart, I won’t invite. Voices fade through the dead of night— I hear ‘em… but I don’t reply… Iron spine, yeah, I still survive, With my secrets, and my sky. I feel— (I feel—) but I don’t show… Just smoke and shadows… And I’m takin’ it slow… (Outro - Brick and bone… brick and bone… …Takin’ it slow… …Yeah…