Copyright, Publishing and Licensing:  Tracy Howe/The Restoration Project
1191 Forest Edge Rd, Woodland Park, CO 80863

Ashes

I remember the summer months when it was too hot to sleep
And the times the laughter would never end
And the hard night when you kissed me goodbye
And left me in the streets again

So I sing a song in the autumn air
To let you know I’m thinking of your eyes
The kindness you gave again and again
Even though I know you’d never stay

As I open up these scaled eyes and look across the sky
I see the ashes falling down from the fire I thought was life
You can forget me, I will survive
I will survive this time

You said it was nothing much of consequence
There would always be somewhere else to go
I say there is nowhere different from what I’ve ever known
Another service, another mission, and just more people without a home

As I open up these scaled eyes and look across the sky
I see the ashes falling down from the fire I thought was life

I was born in the city where you can’t be alone
The cars move fast and the noise takes on a life of its own
I sink into the concrete to find solitude beneath their feet
Marching the same blocks they were born on and the same places they will die
To hope and vision that someone would care and turn and listen
To their steps and learn their names and feel the years and the dreams that came true
The faith that got them there and then the greed that took it all away
And the fear, the fear that keeps them here
My veins fill and flow with pieces of glass shattered in the streets
From old heroine needles and 7-up bottles that fell into the cracks
And were never swept away
My heart pumps as the jump and do their dance in the streets
Little girls making rhymes while the cars make the buildings shake
And I cry out from the concrete, I cry out from the concrete

I cry out from the concrete until it is drowned out by the sirens and the train