Before I Wake

The morning light feels cold as stone
I lie so still, and so alone
This body, once a familiar friend
Is reaching its unsteady end

I feel the tide pull from the land
And forget the feeling of my own hand

So let me sleep, let the medicine slide
Back to a world where I still exist inside
Where my thoughts were clear, a straight and certain line
And the beating in my chest felt strong, and mine
But the day will break with a pale and empty light
A slow, sure ending to a failing fight
So I'm pleading for one more mistake
One more dream, Before I Wake

They talk in tones so soft and low
Words meant to comfort, but I know
I see the grief they try to hide
Beneath the smile they hold inside
A blanket can't contain this chill
A hollow space no one can fill

The past is just a locked—up room
Filled with the scent of forgotten perfume

So let me sleep, let the medicine slide
Back to a world where I still exist inside
Where my thoughts were clear, a straight and certain line
And the beating in my chest felt strong, and mine
But the day will break with a pale and empty light
A slow, sure ending to a failing fight
So I'm pleading for one more mistake
One more dream, Before I Wake

Do you remember when I taught you how to drive?
The nervous laugh, you felt so alive?
That version of me is packed away in a box
Ticking like a clock against these locks
This isn't goodnight, this is a slow goodbye
Watching the last color bleed from the sky
The hardest part isn't the pain I endure
It's knowing I'll become a photograph on the door

Just let me sleep. Don't let the daylight take
The last few pieces of my soul that ache
Where my mind was a river, not this dusty, dry lake
Oh, God, the world is starting to shake
I can feel it for heaven's sake
Just one more breath to take
Before I

Wake
to the silence
and the ache
before I wake