Houses of light

I walk the hill above the station

Shoes still wet from yesterday

Houses breathing in the darkness

Little worlds along the way

Golden squares in painted concrete

Moving shadows on the wall

Every window holds a secret

Every light a quiet call

Somewhere someone's boiling water

Someone's laughing in their sleep

Somewhere someone holds a letter

That they're too afraid to keep

These are houses of light

Lanterns stitched into the night

I don't know their names

But I feel their lives

Through the glass and the blinds

These are houses of light

And I'm just passing by

With a borrowed sky

Carrying my mountains inside

On a balcony, a young boy

Traces airplanes with his hand

In a kitchen, tired shoulders

Wash the same plate once again

In an attic, someone's painting

Snowy peaks they've never seen

And a song leaks through a doorway

Soft and cracked and almost clean

Somewhere someone folds a suitcase

Somewhere tears are running slow

Somewhere someone lights a candle

For a name they'll never know

These are houses of light

Lanterns stitched into the night

I don't know their names

But I feel their lives

Through the glass and the blinds

These are houses of light

And I'm just passing by

With a borrowed sky

Carrying my mountains inside

If they looked out they'd just see me

Silhouette against the rain

But my heart is at their table

Sharing every small refrain

From the valleys where I started

To this hill above the tracks

Every window is a compass

Pointing home and pulling back

These are houses of light

Tiny prayers against the night

I don't know their names

But they warm the cold

On this far, forgotten road

These are houses of light

And I'm walking slow

With the town below

Carrying my mountains inside