?Interrobang! · Track 29 · middle
Witness to a Love She'll Never Have
OBJECT (intimate, what Sisukiro found): an engraved wedding ring. OWNER (re-linked by Sisukiro): Forever Alone Fiona — professional bridesmaid from America; note the irony of the name. FOUND AT: an uninhabited atoll in the Tuamotus. THE (UN)LIKELY STORY & THE UNANSWERABLE QUESTION: Fiona stands beside other people's weddings for hire though she's Forever Alone; left an engraved ring on an empty atoll. Can you witness a love you'll never be given?
Lyrics
[Intro] [Verse 1] Found it on a bed of white coral rubble. A perfect circle of gold, sitting in the sun. Worn smooth on the inside. I didn't need to read the engraving. I just knew it wasn't hers. Forever Alone Fiona. Paid to smile in peach chiffon. Paid to catch the bouquet she’ll never throw. Twenty-seven weddings, the journal said. Twenty-seven different shades of someone else's happy ending. [Chorus] How many times can you stand beside it? Hold your breath for their 'I do'? This ring, a question mark left in the sand. Can you witness a love you'll never be given? Can you live in the house right next door to heaven? [Verse 2] From the United States to Papeete. A series of smaller and smaller planes. Then a boat across the turquoise calm of the Tuamotus. To this specific motu, Tepoto Nord. Where the only fresh water falls from the sky. She chose the atoll that cannot hold a well. Chose the salt-rimmed emptiness to hold this one, small, heavy thing. [Chorus] How many times can you stand beside it? Hold your breath for their 'I do'? This ring, a question mark left in the sand. Can you witness a love you'll never be given? Can you live in the house right next door to heaven? [Bridge] The hermit crabs clicked past it for a week. A metallic sound on the limestone. A sun-warmed promise with no one left to promise to. Maybe the engraving was her own name. A quiet vow to the witness. A vow to the self that stands apart, and sees it all so clearly. [Outro] I hold it in my palm. The salt air is thick and warm. The surf whispers on the reef flat. The question doesn't break. It just… hangs.