I Won't Begin Again

[Verse 1]
At the edge of the ceiba, I hear the old wish,
To wake where no promise is tied to my name.
A clean sheet of limestone, untouched by the rain,
No hands at my doorway, no debts to reclaim.
The Hero Twins descended through trials below,
And I count every stair that I’d have to let go.

[Pre-Chorus]
The dark keeps a doorway, the dawn keeps a thread,
But there are warm voices that call me instead.

[Chorus]
I could begin again, begin again,
Leave every stone where it lies.
But I won’t unmake the lives we made,
Or turn my back on their eyes.
I carry the fire; I carry the names,
Though the blank page calls again.
I could begin again—
I won’t begin again.

[Verse 2]
The maize in the courtyard needs tending at noon,
The roof that we mended still shelters us all.
There’s laughter at supper, a cup by the wall,
Small roots in the earth that would break if I’d fall.
Ix Chel keeps her wisdom in thread and in hands,
So I stitch one more day to the life that still stands.

[Pre-Chorus]
The dark keeps a doorway, the dawn keeps a thread,
And there are warm voices that call me instead.

[Chorus]
I could begin again, begin again,
Leave every stone where it lies.
But I won’t unmake the lives we made,
Or turn my back on their eyes.
I carry the fire; I carry the names,
Though the blank page calls again.
I could begin again—
I won’t begin again.

[Bridge]
Under Xibalba, the brothers returned,
Not untouched by the trials, but changed by the road.
I don’t need a new world to loosen this load;
I can choose what to keep, I can share what I hold.
Let the old self fall like husks from the stalk,
Let the next step be humble, let the next step be walked.

[Final Chorus]
I could begin again, begin again,
Leave every stone where it lies.
But I won’t unmake the lives we made,
Or turn my back on their eyes.
I carry the fire; I carry the names,
Though the blank page calls again.
I could begin again—
I won’t begin again.

[Outro]
The page stays unmarked, but my hands are not bare;
I stay for the people who know I am there.