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Ellis Paul

Don't Breathe

from: Stories
Picture my face at your kitchen table,
We're both fifteen years old.
Your parents are sleeping upstairs in their bedroom,
The house is quiet, but cold.
Did I tell you then?
These are moments whole lifetimes are built on.

You're my best friend,
and if it's tonight will these walls hold our secret?
Don't breathe out loud --
it's like breaking glass,
And the walls must hold the moments fast...

Picture my face in the space of your garage.
We're still fifteen years old.
Naked in blankets,
the angels would thank us
If they knew how the future was told.

Did I tell you then?
These are moments whole lifetimes are built on.

You're my best friend --
and now we're skin to skin
only sweat runs between us.
Don't breathe out loud...
Don't breathe out loud...
Don't breathe...

Hold these pieces, pictures in tatters.
Fade the colors, still a fortune to hold.

Picture my face in frame in a picture
Of when we were fifteen years old.
Fumbling for answers,
two out of step dancers
Content in darkness to hold.

Did I tell you then?
These are moments my whole life is built on.
You're my best friend.
Did I tell you then?
Did I tell you then?
Did I tell you?

Ellis Paul Publishing (ASCAP) 1994