Ghost Light
Who could imagine
we'd still be here?
Each time I turn around,
the curtain falls on one more year.
The aisle is clearing.
The band goes home.
And in the hush and gloom,
the empty room is cast in shadows.
Leave the ghost light on.
The night is still so young.
These hours are all we want.
Someday we too will come to haunt these hallways.
But until then,
here in the dead of the night,
our wildest dreams can ignite.
The ghosts are rising,
alive again.
It's all illusion,
and yet it's true.
Each time I step onto the stage
I'm still an ingenue.
The sets are tattered.
The costumes fray.
But here within these walls,
these hallowed halls,
we last forever.
Leave the ghost light on
for me and my old friends.
The ones who haunt this space,
their years misspent inside this place,
pretending.
Their days are done.
But there's more life on this stage.
I'm getting better with age.
Their show is over.
Mine's just begun.
The ghost light shines alone
when the audience is gone.
She's like me.
We have the strength to carry on.
I've buried lovers.
I've buried friends.
And in my life, I've known some comic
and some tragic ends.
I've seen the ruins,
and still I say:
These were the best of times,
the only times that I'll remember.
Let the ghost light shine.
The world we made won't last.
Another show, another cast.
Leave the ghost light on.
Let it glow all night.
I've yet to reach my prime.
I've seen the worst,
and somehow I'm still standing.
I carry on.
And like the light, I remain.
So someone pop the champagne.
Here's to beginnings,
year after year.
No, there's no telling what the future brings.
But I'll be waiting in the wings for
something that's new.
Lights up, and give me my cue.
Hear how the audience clamors for one more premiere.
Welcome.
It's time now.
We're starting.
I'm here!
