Gotta forsake my inhibitions, to step under the beams.
But I run so fast, I stumble and fall,
Collapse against pavement and crash into walls.
My fingers rush over the keys, warm up to the chorus. This time, instead of singing alone, I repeat the bars, willing Nev to accompany me.
Her lips remain immobile.
Playing the chorus over, I murmur, “I’ll stop and walk out of here if you don’t sing.”
Her head jerks, and then her eyes finally unglue themselves from the keys and focus on me. I bob my head in time to the beat, grounding her with my gaze, forcing her to forget that her mother is in the audience.
My fingers roll into the chorus again. This time, the cage of Nev’s lips opens to release a mesmerizing sound that flocks into the void around us.
I’m a dreamer made of love. A dreamer made of thoughts.
An arrow made of feathers, and a rope made of knots.
I’m a girl made of dreams. A girl made of hopes.
A story made of rhythm, and a song made of notes.
Her voice thunders out of her, spreading like velvet and ink through the old theater, coating everything and everyone in its wondrous, raucous darkness.
My chest is on fire. Electric, a live wire.
Stand and dust myself off. Get back on the road.
I blink, I breathe. Adjust my aim, reload.
To run or to walk? Or to shout or to talk?
Oh…
I will get there, fast or slow,
’Cause I know where I need to go.
I’m a dreamer made of love. A dreamer made of thoughts.
An arrow made of feathers, and a rope made of knots.
I’m a girl made of dreams. A girl made of hopes.
A story made of rhythm, and a song made of notes.
I feel like we’re back in my living room, singing together for the very first time, our voices overlapping and plaiting.
No one’s ever caught a dream sitting down.
No one’s ever sang a song without a sound.
I keep going,
Stop at nothing,
I will make it.
