Bootprints in the ash
Name tags in the dirt
I stitch my shaky hands
Through photographs that hurt
Dog tags on a nail
Clink like teeth at night
Every prayer I ever said
Came back in black and white
I see the shadows of death on the wall
Every step I take
They follow me (follow me)
Follow me
Faces I carried through smoke and the fall
Sleeping in my ribs
They hollow me (hollow me)
Hollow me
Shadows of death
Calling my breath
And I don't know who I am at all
Coffee gone cold
TV turned off
I flinch at every car
Like it might go off
Streetlights paint ghosts
On my bedroom door
I count them like a roll call
Of the ones not here anymore
I see the shadows of death on the wall
Every step I take
They follow me (follow me)
Follow me
Faces I carried through smoke and the fall
Sleeping in my ribs
They hollow me (hollow me)
Hollow me
Shadows of death
Calling my breath
And I don't know who I am at all
If I walk into the dark
Do they fade?
If I finally speak their names
Are they saved?
Tell me
Is this guilt or is it grace?
When I feel their hands
Reaching through my chest plate (hey!)
I see the shadows of death on the wall
Every step I take
They follow me (follow me)
Follow me
Brothers I carried through smoke and the fall
Living in my veins
They swallow me (swallow me)
Swallow me
Shadows of death
Under my breath
Till I say their names and learn to stand tall