Colours fade to grey

 

Visions of a meadow, touched with flowers white and yellow

pouring down the hill.

Reflections of her lover in the silver of the river

and she's dreaming still.

Waking to the singing, and the thought of hidden feelings

in the early morn'.

And the velvet chains of conscience, weighing heavy like a secret

in the empty dawn.

Time and time and time again, the voices reassure

she's not the one to blame.

But the sea will kiss the rocks and turn them gently into sand,

it happens just the same.

Now the day won't bring the answer, when the slender thread was broken

she may never know.

And it does her no good crying, or looking for a friend

that vanished long ago.

Oh … How the colours fade to grey.

Rising to to the certainty of words that never leave her

in that song again.

As the rain clouds cry their sympathy, in bitter tears of sadness

on the window pane.

The labels in the bathroom pour their emerald fragrance

and help to ease the pain away.

And the water soothes her body, where the flame of love had touched her

on another day.

Now the mirror tells the story of a life that's lost its reason,

yet it still remains.

And the only sign of light shines down, uncaring and relentlessly

and nothing's changed.

Shining on and on until the yellow of the sun

is lost beneath the hill.

Reflections of her lover, in the bathroom in the mirror

and she's dreaming still.

Oh … How the colours fade to grey.

Chocolate bars and candy floss, fairground rides and ice cream

and a laughing face.

Balanced in the later years, she's feeling lost and lonely

in a crowded place.

And the streets she's walked so many times before

are now a foreign land.

As each footstep stirs the mist, and takes her closer, ever nearer

to a stranger's hand.

She can watch the shadows lengthen, she can beckon to the night time

as a welcome friend.

And the angels wait impatiently to embrace her in the darkness

at the journey's end.

Now the sun grows red and sultry, as it leaves its dying embers

sheltered by the hill.

And she stands there with her lover, a reflection in the mirror,

and she's dreaming still.

Oh … How the colours fade to grey.

©2026 Stephen. J. Green.