Dying Embers - Niko Jarell
Curtains move in evening air
Dust like memories everywhere
Nothing loud, nothing torn
Just a quiet that was born
Your laughter isn't here
But it hasn't disappeared
It's settled soft and low
Like a faint afterglow
We didn't burn, we didn't break
We just became what time would take
Faint afterglow
You remain in fire, not in pain
Just a warmth beneath my skin
Where your touch had once been
It doesn't ache the way it did
No storm I have to outlive
Faint afterglow, soft and slow
A love that learned to let go
Photos resting face down now
I don't need them anyhow
Your name sounds different on my tongue
Like a song once softly sung
I don't chase what's gone away
I don't beg for it to stay
But sometimes in the undertone
I feel that afterglow
Not every ending has to fall
Some just fade and that is all
Faint afterglow coming clear
Not too far and not too near
Just a shimmer in the dusk
A gentle trace of us
It doesn't pull me back again
It doesn't reopen then and when
Faint afterglow, a tender hue
A quiet thank you
Maybe love can softly end
And still be something we defend
Not in longing, not in flame
Just alive without a name
Faint afterglow, I can see
What you were and what I'll be
You were warmth along my road
Not a weight I have to hold
I'll step forward without regret
Grateful for the light we met
Faint afterglow, it's true
I was brighter loving you
Faint afterglow
Still warm
Still good
