The Usher Walks the Aisle with a Torch

Lyrics

Thirty years I've shown them to their seats,
a small torch in my palm.
Velvet rows, a hush, a rustling coat,
and the curtain drawing calm.
I never learned the endings,
I was busy in the dark,
but I know the sound of people
falling quiet at the spark.

The usher walks the aisle with a torch,
a little pool of gold.
Every face turned up toward the screen
is a story yet untold.
I light the way for strangers,
then I slip back to the wall,
and the dark is warm with breathing
as the picture lights us all.

A boy once brought his mother here,
her first time at a show.
She gripped my sleeve at the overture
and whispered, I didn't know.
I walked them to the middle row,
I held the torch down low,
and I watched her watching wonder
in the flicker's silver glow.

The usher walks the aisle with a torch,
a little pool of gold.
Every face turned up toward the screen
is a story yet untold.
I light the way for strangers,
then I slip back to the wall,
and the dark is warm with breathing
as the picture lights us all.

Now the seats are patched and faded,
and the crowds are thin some nights,
but the hush is just as holy
when I dim the lobby lights.
One more family finding places,
one more whisper, one more sweet,
one more night of borrowed worlds
in the town's old velvet seat.

The usher walks the aisle with a torch,
a little pool of gold.
Every face turned up toward the screen
is a story yet untold.
I light the way for strangers,
then I slip back to the wall,
and the dark is warm with breathing
as the picture lights us all.

Mind the step, my friend,
the dark is kind.
Enjoy the show.