[Intro]
The altar waited
Gold under grime
A crack ran through it
Like a line through time

[Verse 1]
The flood withdrew behind my steps
As if the church could breathe
The aisle lay bare in candle smoke
With flowers made of grief
The altar rose in ruined gold
Its cloth torn thin with mold
The crucifix above it leaned
Too tired to carry cold

[Verse 2]
I placed your letter on the stone
Beside the open chain
The photograph, the folded note
The relics of my pain
They looked so small before that height
So human, worn, and slight
As if I built a cathedral out
Of one unanswered night

[Pre-Chorus]
The final door was not a door
The final wound no wall
Only a choice to stand awake
Before the altar falls

[Chorus]
Before the altar falls
I will not run again
I will not dress your memory
In punishment and rain
Before the altar falls
Let every candle know
I can carry love forward
Without refusing to let go

[Verse 3]
The marble trembled underfoot
The organ sighed alone
A choir gathered in the ribs
Of timber, dust, and stone
I heard your voice among them there
Not leading, not apart
A single thread of silver sound
Drawn through the cathedral’s heart

[Pre-Chorus]
You did not ask for worship
You did not ask for chains
You asked me once to answer
And now I speak your name

[Chorus]
Before the altar falls
I will not run again
I will not dress your memory
In punishment and rain
Before the altar falls
Let every candle know
I can carry love forward
Without refusing to let go

[Orchestral Build-up]
Stone above me
Rain behind
Ash below me
Truth in mind
Glass around me
Bells beneath
One more breath
Between guilt and peace

[Bridge]
I thought release meant treason
I thought the grave would close
If I stopped bleeding daily
On the altar of your ghost
But love is not preserved by pain
Nor proved by endless night
A candle is not faithless
When it gives itself to light

[Build-up]
Hold the stone
Hold the flame
Hold the truth
And say the name

[Final Chorus]
Before the altar falls
I will not run again
I will not dress your memory
In punishment and rain
Before the altar falls
Let every candle know
I can carry love forward
Without refusing to let go
Before the altar falls
I kneel, then rise, then stand
Not empty of your memory
But with open hands

[Outro]
The altar waited
Gold under grime
The crack grew wider
And I stepped through time