[Intro] [Soft, intricate fingerpicking starts] [Verse 1] I’m standing right beside you, by the armchair in the dark, Watching how the embers throw their shadows and their sparks. You’re looking at my portrait, at the girl of nineteen years, And I’m reaching out to brush away the salt of all those tears. But my hand just passes through you, like the light through morning mist, A phantom of the woman that your heavy heart has missed. [Chorus] Oh, the doorway isn’t empty, my love, I’m standing in the frame, I’m whispering through the silence, I’m calling out your name. I’m the warmth within the sunlight, I’m the dust-dance in the hall, I haven’t left a single inch of these four wooden walls. You’re only half a man, you say, since my heart let go of time, But I’m still holding onto yours... I’m still trying to make it mine. [Verse 2] I watch you set the table, put the chipped cup in its place, I’m leaning o’er your shoulder just to look upon your face. I smell the tea, I see the steam, I hear the things you say, I’m right here... while you’ve mourned me for a year and a day. That lighthouse in the painting, from the week it wouldn’t end I’m still laughing at the storm, my love, I’m still your truest friend. [Bridge] I’m the humming in the hallway when the house is settling down, I’m the scent of lily-perfume drifting through your dressing gown. I’m not a memory, I’m a presence... just a breath behind the veil, Watching forty years of loving you turn silver, thin, and frail. Don't reach for shadows, darling... reach for the air inside the room, I’m the life within the stillness, I’m the flower, not the tomb. [Chorus] Oh, the doorway isn’t empty, my love, I’m standing in the frame, I’m whispering through the silence, I’m calling out your name. I’m the warmth within the sunlight, I’m the dust-dance in the hall, I haven’t left a single inch of these four wooden walls. You’re only half a man, you say, since my heart let go of time, But I’m still holding onto yours... I’m still trying to make it mine. [Outro] [Music slows, guitar notes ringing out into space] So leave the kettle where it is... and let the morning be. One day you won’t feel half a man... You’ll simply walk with me. [Final soft piano chord] [Fade to silence]
