Ruins

The old house is vacant, the tall grass has taken the last of the garden away Holes in the windows where kids throw in stones just to hear something shudder and break It’s hard to say sorry, it’s humbling and scary, a gust of wind tearing your mask away Leaving you lonely inside of your body, a ghost in a hollow embrace A crumbling table, a broken cup handle, an animal running the walls It’s hard to believe we were dreaming and graceful, or that we were lovers at all A burn on the counter where, moving in anger, you danced like a stranger all strange and small Then covered in blankets and holding me later, you said it was nobody’s fault Oh, the whole thing down in ruins, alone, a ghost in an empty room Walking on eggshells and dust on the bookshelf, and catching your face in the glass An angry destroyer, a hurt little boy, a man in an iron mask Forgiveness is easy, you just have to kneel, and then promise to take it all back But beautiful words are not real without something to heal where the glass is cracked Oh, the whole thing down in ruins, alone, a ghost in an empty room A vase with no flowers that burn on the counter, the curtains all dirty and worn A crack in the staircase and birds in the fireplace and paint peeling off of the door All out of chances, a sorry ghost dancing a pattern of dust on the floor Forever a memory, a lonely house empty, where nobody lives anymore Oh, the whole thing down in ruins, alone, a ghost in an empty room