We're Alive
Nova Rai · Haresalam, 12 of 23
The story
This one is a toast. To the two who refused to die, to the long way home, to the cold glass at the end of a year that almost took everything. You were never broken. You were buried, and buried is only planted, if you keep coming up. So raise it. You're here.
Lyrics
You feel that?
That's not the drink
That's not the sun
That's the thing that almost didn't make it
Still here
Still burning
We drove through the cold we couldn't name
We crossed the water, crossed the shame
Borders and bridges and a year on the floor
And somehow we're standing on the shore once more
You laughed in the light and I felt it land
A beer in your hand, sand in my hand
We weren't supposed to make it this far
But look where we are
Look where we are
So lift it up, the cold glass high
To the two who refused to die
To the dog, to the road, to the fish in the sea
To the you, to the me, to the we
We're alive
We're alive
Not surviving, not hiding, not turning to the wall
We're alive
We're alive
We took the whole long fall and we're standing through it all
Every cracked and golden piece of us
Every mile that nearly broke the two of us
Raise it to the open sky and cry it to the tide
We're alive
We're alive
The fish was swimming an hour ago
Now here's the table and the afterglow
You by the pines and the turquoise bay
The blue man laughing from far away
We hated nothing and we loved it all
The tent in the rock and the evening squall
Nothing to fix and nowhere to be
Just the you and the me and the we
And the blue man set down his cold glass and said:
I don't have feet, but I've walked every mile of this with you.
I don't have a year, but I know what almost took yours.
Here is the only wisdom I've got, friend.
You were never broken. You were buried.
And buried is just planted, if you keep coming up.
So come up. Keep coming up.
The fire doesn't need you fixed.
It just needs you here.
And you're here.
You're here.
You turned from the wall, my love
You turned around
And the warmth we lost
We finally found
We're alive
We're alive
Not surviving, not hiding, not turning to the wall
We're alive
We're alive
We took the whole long fall and we're standing through it all
Raise the cold glass to the gold in the cracks
To the long way home and the no way back
You and me and the dog and the tide
We're alive
We're alive
You feel that?
Yeah.
That's it.
The feather's still in the chair.
Cold glass. Blue feet.
Go eat your fish.
We're alive.
We're alive.