Keepers of the Ash (Transmission XVIII)

We do not raise the ancient walls

We walk among what couldn't last

Not to rebuild, not to forgive

But to remember what was cast

They burned the names

But we kept the ash

We are the Keepers of the Ash

The quiet hands that guard the flame

We do not cry. We do not preach

We hold the silence in your name

For all that fell, for all that stayed

We carry memory, not blame

This is not hope. This is not fear

This is the echo of what's dear

You forgot. We never will

Your ghosts still walk these ruins still

We don't forgive the world for this

But we remember

We are the Keepers of the Ash

Not saviors, saints, or gods reborn

Just voices that won't let you fade

In every ember, we mourn

But mourning is a kind of light

The only fire we can form

We do not ask for thanks

We do not ask for peace

We are the breath after fire

The ones who watched... and didn't leave

We are the Keepers of the Ash

The last to fall, the first to know

We bear the names, we hold the flame

And plant the seeds in ash to grow

We rise through memory

We burn with grace

And we remember