Aurora

Good night, little princess
Say you'll never stray
Don't make me turn backwards
Tracing could-have-been ways
I don't wear gilded hair
I don't fit their perfect glare
Still you dress me in their stories
Like I'm something borrowed there

Long ago they bound our names with silver, soft, and thin
I was, I am, I might become
A shadow at the hem
Hold that vow inside your chest like
A secret the Moon keeps
Speak it into the hush before
The whole world sleeps

Good night, little princess
Promise me you'll stay
Don't let this thread unravel
At the edge of day
Kiss me before the deep-sleep keeps
Swear you'll be the one I keep
Don't call me dawn when morning breaks
I'm not Aurora, Aurora, Aurora
I'm not Aurora, Aurora, Aurora
I'm not Aurora, Aurora, Aurora
When the day awakes
(Aurora, Aurora)

Don't map me to their storybooks, or pages they rehearse
I move like half a heartbeat, a verse without a curse
You say there's no one like me, you mean what no one knows
But promises are fragile boats on nights when west-winds blow
We were promised in a whisper that still trembles on my skin
I was, I have been, and maybe I'll be again
Or not, or in between
Keep your hands like harbor lights
Keep me from the drift
But let me choose the weather
Let me keep the gift

Good night, little princess
Promise me you'll stay
Don't let this thread unravel
At the edge of day
Kiss me before the deep-sleep keeps
Swear you'll be the one I keep
Don't call me dawn when morning breaks
I'm not Aurora, Aurora, Aurora
I'm not Aurora, Aurora, Aurora
I'm not Aurora, Aurora, Aurora
When the day awakes

We learned to promise like a prayer
We learned to sign our names in smoke
I loved you like a lighthouse loves the sea
Not for capture, but for hope
If fate wrote us on paper, fold that paper into stars
Light them, but don't tie me down
Don't lock me behind those bars

Good night, little princess
Promise me you'll stay
Don't let this thread unravel
At the edge of day
Kiss me before the deep-sleep keeps
Swear you'll be the one I keep
Don't call me dawn when morning breaks
I'm not Aurora, Aurora, Aurora
I'm not Aurora, Aurora, Aurora
I'm not Aurora, Aurora, Aurora
When the day awakes
(Aurora, Aurora)