Marigold Lights at Midnight

Candles tremble on the altar tonight

Names in the smoke, they shimmer and rise

I fold your laughter into the flame

And the room feels larger when I say your name

Marigolds glow in the cold night air

Golden hands saying you're still there

Come back through the music, come back through the name

Walk with the living for one more refrain

Your memory moves like a light through the hall

No calm, not silent, still touching us all

Come back, come back, let it hurt

Recognize the way love returns

Seeing a thousand small signs

Merry-go-blooms where the dark used to be

And every old sorrow is learning to breathe

I set out your favorite sweet on the plate

Listen for footsteps a little too late

But something in me answers the air

Like your shadow is sitting beside me there

If I close my eyes, you're tender and near

Not only a date, not only a tear

You live in the stories we still keep alive

In a way that the broken can learn to survive

Come back through the music, come back through the rain

Walk with still living for one more refrain

Your memory moves like a light through the hall

Not gone, not silent, still tucked

Touching us all

Come back, come back, let the heart recognize

The way love returns in a thousand small signs

Marigolds bloom where the dark used to be

And every old sorrow is learning to grieve

So I sing to the veil

And I sing to the flame

Holding your face in the warmth of your name