the red-orange trees
hold bones of leaves
and you walk so slowly
just to show me one more fall
before you fly this world

i have no words to decorate the silence
that i can't escape
when reason is no reason
anymore

i will rise
i will rise
i will rise

you hear my tear through the t.v. din
and you come to the kitchen
but you don't come in
i feel you like a blanket
like a light

i used to want to be one of a kind
but i missed that train
maybe just in time
to catch the days reflected in your eyes

i will rise
i will rise
i will rise

on the front porch
with the neighbors watching
i will open my arms
asking nothing
but to fill my shoes and walk
and walk

days like jewels connect the dots
between where we've been and
who we're not
and living
and forgiving
say no more