Lantern in the bracken

Title: “Lantern in the Bracken”

Verse 1
Found you where the bracken braided shadows with the snow,
A copper comet fallen where the cold winds blow.
Eyes like two small questions in a world too wide,
Heartbeat like a matchstrike trying not to hide.
The woods were holding their breath, winter stiff and stark,
You were a pocket of sunrise in a field of dark.

Pre-Chorus
Tiny paws writing trembles in the frost,
Every shiver spelling what you’d lost.

Chorus
Come here, little lantern in the leaves,
I’ll be your harbor when the night wind heaves.
Wrap you in a sweater made of steady hands,
Trade your brittle silence for gentler plans.
Hush now, ember with a silver scar,
You don’t have to be brave where you are.
I’ll keep the thunder far above,
And teach your wild heart how to trust in love.

Verse 2
Burrs in your fur like a crown of thorns,
Sky full of crows and broken horns.
I warmed a bottle on the edge of the stove,
Watched your fear loosen, thread by thread it wove.
You studied my shadow like it might betray,
Then curled like a question mark and stayed.

Pre-Chorus
Soft as a rumor, fierce as a flame,
Learning the shape of a gentler name.

Chorus
Come here, little lantern in the leaves,
I’ll be your harbor when the night wind heaves.
Build you a fortress out of lullabies,
Patch up the map in your amber eyes.
Hush now, ember with a silver scar,
You don’t have to be brave where you are.
Let the forest knock on a kinder door,
You’ll chase the dawn again, I’m sure.

Bridge
One day the wind will call you home,
Thread through your tail like a honeyed comb.
I’ll open my hands like a gate at spring,
Watch you become the bright, quick thing
You were before the storm unspooled,
Before the frost and the hunger ruled.
Love is a ladder you climb and release,
A promise of shelter, a practice of peace.

Final Chorus
Run, little lantern through the green,
Swift as the thought of what might have been.
Carry the warmth of a borrowed den,
A pocket of fire you’ll kindle again.
If ever the night grows barbed and vast,
Remember the hands that held you fast.
Go on, ember, the wild is your hymn,
The forest was dim
Till you burned within. 🦊✨

Soul, choir, cello. Piano