Lyrics / The Wondering Traveler
CIARO (Sand & Signal)
Cairo, you don’t whisper You shimmer Like heat off stone Limestone giants, dark on the ridge Phone screens glow on the river bridge Tour lights blink like they own the scene But the back street breathes in kerosene Gold perfume, dust on skin A laugh, a glare, a bargain grin I’m learning fast, don’t stare too long The city hears you thinking Steps on the pavement, pulse in my jaw I came for the myth, I found the raw And every alley bends the sound Like metal warmed, then hammered down Cairo, keep that flame on I’m not done, I’m not gone Hold my name in your night wind Let it sting, let it soften Cairo, turn the lights strange Make my fear rearrange If the sky’s got a message Let it land, let it land Mint tea steam, sweat on glass Old stone watches traffic pass A wedding drum in a distant lane Then a siren cuts the same refrain Someone counts bills under marble bright Someone counts minutes to make it night I don’t fix it, I don’t preach I just carry what I reach My shadow long on a cracked tile floor I feel the future at a closed shop door And the air tastes sharp, electric, thin Like history humming under my skin Cairo, keep that flame on I’m not done, I’m not gone Hold my name in your night wind Let it sting, let it soften Cairo, turn the lights strange Make my fear rearrange If the sky’s got a message Let it land, let it land I thought I wanted clean answers But you gave me real questions I saw my own face in a shop window And it looked older I let the night rewrite me Line by line Breath by breath Cairo, keep that flame on I’m not done, I’m not gone Hold my name in your night wind Let it sting, let it soften Cairo, turn the lights strange Make my fear rearrange If the sky’s got a message Let it land, let it land Night in the limestone Cairo in my throat I leave with the dust still glowing