Monica Rhodes - Love me Lanternless

[Verse 1]

I memorized your rhythm by the falter of your breath,
Tracing scars like constellations on the hollow of your chest.
I keep my wings tucked tightly
a secret made of lead,
A ghost beside your body, a rumor in your bed.
You sleep with trust like paper, so fragile and so thin,
While I’m a matchstick trembling, desperate to begin.

[Pre-Chorus]

I beg the dark to swallow us, to keep your eyelids low,
There are things the heart can handle that the eyes should never know.

[Chorus]

Love me lanternless, love me while you’re blind,
Leave the world of heavy edges and the binary behind.
Hold my hand like a confession, press your pulse against the hush,
Trust the weight of me, don’t flicker, don’t rush.
Love me lanternless, in the space we haven't named,
Where I am still your refuge, and I am not ashamed.

[Verse 2]

I leave you little mercies—wildflower, salt, and song,
Evidence of devotion to prove that I belong.
I see your fingers twitching, I feel the fever start,
The hunger for a "certainty" that's going to break your heart.
You think a light will save us, that seeing is a gift,
But truth is just a blade, love, and the cut is going to drift.

[Bridge (The Breaking Point)]

I am made of arrowhead regrets and feathers dipped in gold,
A god who’s sick of worship, just wanting to be held.
I wanted faith like breathing
not the witness, not the spark,
But you traded all our forever for a moment in the dark.
I feel the sulfur burning, I feel the room ignite,
Oh, god
forgive the monster you’re about to bring to light.

[Final Chorus]

Love me lanternless
Was the ghost of me not enough?
Did you have to skin the mystery to see the raw and rough?
If you must know my reason, know it’s bleeding, deep and true
I hid myself in the shadows so the light could stay on you.
Love me lanternless
but the candle’s burned too bright,
And I can’t be what you wanted in the harshness of the light.

[Outro]

Close your eyes, darlin,
try to find me in the blur.
I was better as a dream
than the lonely thing I was.
Just a shadow.
Just a name.
Just the victim of your flame.