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Spoken version
A recorded reading of “Ashes of You”. If the player does not load, use the original audio source.
I burned the letters you never wrote, each silence, page by page. Your name curled up in candle smoke, a ghost too old for age. I wore you like a stair-rail bruise, a warmth I couldn’t keep. I hugged the air and something shifted— a rib went out of sleep. Fingerprints kept turning up in dreams, a shadow inside my cheek. We chalked a floor plan in the seams; it held a cup—then leaked. You were never mine to lose, and still I lost the same. Ash kept choosing where to live— gritting the throat, sifting the sheets, caught on the string of a note, a thin, mean buzz of wire. I keep your maybe like a relic in the chapel of my chest. Almost is the sharpest edge— no wound left to dress. Don’t trouble yourself with haunting; I’ve practised that alone. Ashes of you in my throat, in my bed, in every note. You don’t have to haunt me, love— I’ll haunt myself enough.
Alternative version
I burned the letters you never wrote— each silence, page by page. Your name curls in candle smoke, a ghost too old for age. I wore you like a velvet bruise, like warmth I couldn’t keep. A hug I gave to nothing still pulls ribs out when I sleep. You were never mine to lose, but I lost you just the same. A love that never had a name still leaves ashes in the flame.
Lyrics
I burned the letters you never wrote Lit the silence page by page Your name still curls in candle smoke Like it’s haunted by your age I wore your ghost like velvet skin Felt you in the air I breathe But every hug I give to no one Pulls a rib out when I leave You were never mine to lose But I grieved you just the same Love that never had a name Still leaves ashes in the flame Ashes of you, in my throat In my bed, in every note I sing to a ghost I made Out of the promises you never gave You don’t have to haunt me, love I’ll haunt myself enough You left fingerprints in dreams And a shadow on my smile A future that was fiction But I loved it for a while You were never cruel to me But your silence was a scream Now every quiet morning Is a crime scene from a dream You were never mine to lose But I grieved you just the same Love that never had a name Still leaves ashes in the flame Ashes of you, in my throat In my bed, in every note I sing to a ghost I made Out of the promises you never gave You don’t have to haunt me, love I’ll haunt myself enough I hold your maybe like a relic In the chapel of my chest You were almost, almost something And that hurts the very best Ashes of you, in my throat In my bed, in every note You don’t have to haunt me, love I’ll haunt myself enough
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