PAINTED IN SMOKE
[Verse 1]
It’s a whisper dressed in armor
A wildfire in disguise
It hides the truth in velvet
While it’s staring through her eyes
I speak in stars and shadows
She laughs, but doesn’t see
That every line I scribble down
Is her, and always will be
[Chorus]
It’s painted in smoke, carved out of rain
Wrapped in riddles so she won’t guess my name
It’s not the kiss—it’s the silence I keep
The hope in my heart I bury too deep
It’s not the thing—it’s the echo it leaves
And now I just haunt the words I don’t speak
[Verse 2]
She quotes my lines at parties
Says, “He writes like no one can”
But I’m the fool behind the curtain
Just a metaphor of a man
I called her “light on water”
She called it “pretty prose”
But I was begging her to notice
In the only way I know
[Chorus]
It’s painted in smoke, carved out of rain
Dancing on wires between pleasure and pain
It’s not the kiss—it’s the tremble before
The truth that I never walked through her door
It’s not the thing—it’s the ache underneath
It’s loving in silence, and drowning in speech
[Bridge]
I wrote her a love song, disguised as a poem
And watched her fall for the words…
Not the one who wrote them
I stayed the metaphor, too scared to confess
Now she’s gone—and I’m left with the rest
[Final Chorus]
Still painted in smoke, carved out of rain
A ghost in the margins, alone with the shame
It’s not the kiss—it’s the life I let go
For fear she might laugh or worse—say no
It’s not the thing—it’s the chance that I missed
And every sweet line… is a lie with a twist
[Outro – whispered, almost spoken word]
So I write in riddles, I rhyme and pretend
But the ink always knows where the silence begins
Note: Grateful for an 8th place finish in the Your Choice M Contest.
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