Cempasúchil Fire in the Alley

We follow orange petals down the wicked street

Past the corner bakery and the drums of our feet

Windows open wide as the banners sway

We carry your name in the heat of the day

Every step says remember, every laugh says stay

Every turn of the trumpet kicks the dark away

Follow the orange petals, let them lead us home

Through the city breathing where the old songs roam

We'd call your stories aloud into the shining air

And the whole block answers, you are still here

Powder the orange bed, lift the night to fire

Dance with others parted in the heart of the choir

We sing your stories aloud, let the brass declare

You are not gone, you are everywhere

By the plaza fountains, by the paper lights

Children learn your nickname from the elder's smiles

Your jokes ride the sidewalk, your footsteps return

In the clatter of the spoons and the lanterns that burn

Every hand that reaches is a bridge to the past

Every shared stack of rhythm makes the memory last

Follow the orange petals, let them lead us home

Through the city breathing where the old songs roam

We'd call your stories aloud into the shining air

And the whole block answers, you are still here

Follow the orange petals, lift the night to fire

Dance with the departed in the heart of the choir

We sing your stories aloud, let the brass declare

You are not gone, you are everywhere

If the road grows heavy, we carry it together

If the sky turns quiet, we answer with brass and leather

Names on our lips like candles and a line

One more song for the livin', one more toast to time

Hollow the orange petals, let them lead us home

Through the shit breezin' where the old songs roam

We call your stories aloud to the shining air

And the whole block answers, you are still here

Follow the orange petals, bright against the night

Marching with our memories, cold and loud and bright

We sing the stories aloud and the streets declare

Love does not leave, it lingers everywhere