Projector hums in ashen nave
Dust motes caught in silver wave
He threads the strip with callused thumb
Frames of flame and kingdom come
Sprocket teeth catch perforated edge
History balanced on a ledge
Carbon arc spits violet blue
Each frame a prayer he once knew
Altos rise in cracked latin
Salve for every broken canon
Bonfire reel spins through the night
Splicing dark with sudden light
Embers pop in acetate
Memory cut at twenty-eight
Bonfire reel won't fade to black
Keeps the cursor on its track
Knight in gold sits frozen mid-swing
Crestfallen warrior, hollow king
Firekeeper tends the dying coil
Celluloid soul on burning spool
He cranks the handle, steady rhythm
Ghosts develop in prism prism
Carbon arc spits violet blue
Each frame a prayer he once knew
Altos rise in cracked latin
Salve for every broken canon
Bonfire reel spins through the night
Splicing dark with sudden light
Embers pop in acetate
Memory cut at twenty-eight
Bonfire reel won't fade to black
Keeps the cursor on its track
Estus flask catches projector glow
Green glass shining in the show
Humanity sprite, soft and round
Single frame where hope is found
He marks the splice with china graph
Laughter caught in halved photograph
Gate weaves vertical hold
Stories that the fire told
Not lost not gone just waiting
In the leader's silent rating
Breath between the frames he finds
Where the choir voice unwinds
Bonfire reel spins through the night
Splicing dark with sudden light
Embers pop in acetate
Memory cut at twenty-eight
Bonfire reel won't fade to black
Keeps the cursor on its track
Dawn cracks kiln where archstones fell
Final frame shows tolling bell
He winds the tail onto the core
No audience to watch once more
Just ash and lens and steady hand
Light preserved in ruined land
Bonfire reel spins through the night
Splicing dark with sudden light
Embers pop in acetate
Memory cut at twenty-eight
Bonfire reel won't fade to black
Keeps the cursor on its track
Bonfire reel spins through the night
Splicing dark with sudden light
Frame holds steady
Frame holds steady