Marigold Lanterns at Midnight

I set the table by the window light

Marigolds burning for the quiet night

A photograph leaning in a frame of gold

And a little cup for the hands I hold

I hear your steps in the hallway glow

Like a softer end that only I know

You come back dressed in the dreamworld ring

And leave me your laughter, your ache, your name

Come home through the candle flame

Rest in the circle, speak my name

I'll keep your stories warm and bright

Carry them tender through the night

Come home through the candle flame

Love is a door that learns your shame

And when the dark begins to fall

I keep your heart, you not recall

I pour the coffee, I light the way

For the ones who visit and cannot stay

Your old song trembles in the air

Like a prayer with dust on its prayerful hair

Come home through the candle flame

Distend the circle, speak my name

I'll keep your stories warm and bright

Carry them tender through the night

Come home through the candle flame

Love is a door that learns your shame

And when the dark begins to fold

I keep your heart in marigolds

So walk with me until the dawn

To every shadow you are not gone

I set your memory here to gloom

A living light inside the room