Lyrics

"Butterflies"
© 2024, Gordon Thomas Ward

When we met, you were a child,
Hair of goldenrod and eyes of autumn rain.
You were dancin’ ’round a meadow
In your carefree, hillside, butterfly-filled game.
We filled our childhoods with the dreams
That sprang from innocence.
Escaping our dark secrets,
Broken homes, and splintered fence,
And in our secret refuge of our meadow on our backs,
A butterfly flew toward the sun, and we both made a pact.

When we die, we will rise and fly in peace,
As butterflies we’ll be floating in forever
Suspended in the meadow of our dreams, dreams of sweet release.

Seventeen’s sweet perfume
With our childhood dreams slippin’ through our hands.
We gave in to each other
In that meadow tangled in a lovers’ dance.
We fumbled through a love so new and never knew the price
Would soon demand its secret cost of sorrow’s sacrifice,
And as the storm clouds gathered in that summer’s azure sky,
Our metamorphosis began, just like our butterflies.

When we die, we will rise and fly in peace,
As butterflies we’ll be floating in forever
Suspended in the meadow our of dreams, dreams of sweet release.

Time will often lead us where our hearts refuse to be,
We yearn to look behind us where the future –
The future cannot see.

So our days and ages passed
We made our ways, both of us apart.
When the news rang out like thunder,
And brought late August rains to fill my heart.
As autumn claimed the goldenrod that danced upon our hill,
I gnawed upon the bones of time for memories lingering still.
One day I walked by slowly where our fences used to stand.
And lay down in our meadow wishing I could hold your hand.
When o’er my head a butterfly appeared on yellow wings
And as it flew, I thought I heard your voice, your voice whispering

When we die, we will rise and fly in peace
As butterflies. We’ll be floating in forever,
Suspended in the meadow our dreams, dreams of sweet release
As butterflies.