Paper lanterns

Streetlights flicker on the corner where we used to stand I still keep your folded map inside my open hand Every road I never took is drawn in faded blue Every road I ever walked was leading back to you The radio is playing something older than this town The neighbors hang their laundry while the sun is going down I count the empty windows and the ones still burning gold And wonder which of them is yours, and if the room is cold So light the paper lanterns, let them rise above the wire Let them carry what we couldn't say, a little borrowed fire If the wind is kind tonight, they'll find you where you are Paper lanterns in the dark, pretending to be stars I learned to cook your mother's soup, I burned it twice in May I learned that missing someone is a thing you do all day It's in the way I fold the sheets, the way I lock the door It's in the second coffee cup I don't need anymore But morning keeps on coming like it never heard the news The buses run, the bakers bake, the children tie their shoes And somewhere in the middle of an ordinary street I caught myself just humming, and I didn't miss a beat So light the paper lanterns, let them rise above the wire Let them carry what we couldn't say, a little borrowed fire If the wind is kind tonight, they'll find you where you are Paper lanterns in the dark, pretending to be stars Maybe love is not the holding on Maybe love is what remains when all the holding's gone A little light, a little heat A melody that finds your feet So light the paper lanterns, let them rise above the wire Let them carry what we couldn't say, a little borrowed fire If the wind is kind tonight, they'll find you where you are Paper lanterns in the dark, pretending to be stars Pretending to be stars Oh, wherever you are Paper lanterns in the dark