We Are The Late Light

They keep talking about “back then.”
I’m not interested in back then.
Look at this room.
Look at this body.
This is what “right now” looks like.

Black cloth
Soft flame
Slow turn
Call my name

I have worn a thousand stories in my skin
I have walked through every season and walked back in
I don’t need a borrowed mirror to be bright
I brought my own horizon to the night

Fabric learns the shape of every move
Lines along my face keep time with the groove
Every step I take inside this space
Teaches every shadow how to taste the grace

So let the deep drum find me
Let the slow light climb
I didn’t come here chasing yesterday
I came here showing up on time

We are the late light
Oh, we are the late light
Glowing in the corners that they never got quite right
Hands up, heart bare
We’re the reason they all stare
Not a memory in sight
We are the late light

Late light, still bright
Slow burn, alive tonight
Turn slow, hold tight
We are the late light

They sell the rush like it’s the only way to feel
But we learned the kind of fire that moves in steel
Let them have the hurry and the noisy crown
We keep the kind of rhythm that can’t be written down

Every crease is proof the heart stayed wide
Every “too much” they named became our pride
Not young, not finished, not fading out of frame
We are the ones the echo loves to say by name

So let the low lights know us
Let the whole floor breathe
We don’t need a future we can fit into
We are the future when we leave

We are the late light
Oh, we are the late light
Glowing in the corners that they never got quite right
Hands up, heart bare
We’re the reason they all stare
Not a memory in sight
We are the late light

Look at you
Not a footnote
Not a throwback
Not a “once upon a time”

Look at the way your shadow dances
Look at the way your colors rhyme

If they want to know what beauty is
Tell them:

It’s the courage to arrive
Exactly as you are

And still be the brightest thing alive—

We are the late light
Yeah, we are the late light
Shining on the faces that keep coming back to life
Still laughing, still wild
Every wrinkle, every mile
Not a second past our prime
We are the late light

We are the late light
We are the late light
Hands up, heart bare
Let them stop and stand and stare
We are the late light

Late light, still bright
Slow burn, alive tonight
Turn slow, hold tight
We are the late light