Ash & Amber Rhythm (version 2)

Verse

Coal drum burning by the courtyard gate

Smoke curls up where the old ones wait

Ash on my shoulder, soft grey bloom

Amber light spills from the shebeen room

Bottle caps pressed in the concrete floor

Someone's grandmother swept this before

Braai smoke folding into the beat

Embers glowing where I plant my feet

Pre-Chorus

Can you feel the fire climbing

Up my spine to my open hands

Every spark got its own timing

Older rhythm than I understand

Chorus

Ash and amber, moving through me

Ash and amber, burning slow

Ash and amber, moving through me

Feet in the coal light, letting go

Verse

Corner store sign hums a dying red

Uncle's laughter where the coals are fed

Waist remembers what the fire taught

Circle closing round the heat we brought

Paint peels soft off the courtyard wall

Bass climbs low where the embers fall

Grandfather's cough in the smoke tonight

Still he's dancing in the amber light

Pre-Chorus

Can you feel the fire climbing

Up my spine to my open hands

Every spark got its own timing

Older rhythm than I understand

Chorus

Ash and amber, moving through me

Ash and amber, burning slow

Ash and amber, moving through me

Feet in the coal light, letting go

Bridge

Grey on my collarbone, warm on my chest

Every ancestor leaning on my breath

The fire don't ask if I'm ready or not

It just keeps burning where the drum is hot

Chorus

Ash and amber, moving through me

Ash and amber, burning slow

Ash and amber, moving through me

Feet in the coal light, letting go