On the Way That Comes Before

Lyrics

You nursed a drink by candlelight As rain made lace on cobblestone The inn was old, the name half-flecked In paint too faded to have known

The barkeep said, “You hike, you said Then take the left at Linden See No signs-just fern and fallen pine… There’s talk of women there..” -Idisi

On the way that comes before

The morning came with colder light You walked alone beyond the hill Past mossy stones and rusted signs The world grew older, older still

The trees leaned close, the path grew thin A silence pooled where birds don’t go And though no gate or marker stood- You crossed beneath a breathless bough

On the way that comes before

They stood where roots entwined like veins In robes the color dusk forgets With wreaths of rowan, faces veiled And silence drawn like silhouettes

One raised her hand-but not to stop As if to speak through stillness true You felt the weight you’d never named Begin to lift… without adieu

On the way that comes before

No words were said, no rites performed No hand was placed upon your chest But something old slipped through your skin- Regret you hadn’t laid to rest

The names you wore, the roles you played The ghosts that whispered in your sleep They fell like threads cut from a loom Too fine to grieve, too deep to keep

On the way that comes before

You woke beneath a younger sky The trail behind was overgrown The trees looked on with kinder bark But not a trace of what was shown

You passed the inn by lantern light The barkeep gone, the sign askew And wondered if you’d ever left- Or if the Idisi walked with you

On the way that comes before

On the way that comes before On the way that comes before On the way that comes before