Past the Edge of the Land

[Куплет 1] You keep a paper atlas folded in your coat Corners soft from every place you never wrote At the bus depot, under a broken red sign You traced a vanished railway with your fingertip line [Алдынғы қайырма] I asked what you were chasing You said, “a shape the world erased” Then you looked at me like maybe I could learn to read that way [Қайырма] Draw me a route through the places that disappeared Leave one blank turn where the future gets near If the old names fade, let them fade in our hands I’ll follow your compass past the edge of the land [Куплет 2] There’s a lighthouse lens wrapped in a museum cloth Still throwing silent circles though the keeper’s gone off You laughed at the dust like it owed you a sign Then held up your palm to catch the unfinished shine [Алдынғы қайырма] No promise, no arrival Just a mark beneath the blue Some roads are worth the losing When they lead me back to you [Қайырма] Draw me a route through the places that disappeared Leave one blank turn where the future gets near If the old names fade, let them fade in our hands I’ll follow your compass past the edge of the land [Көпір] Maybe we’re two loose signals Crossing fields no map can claim You turn north, i turn toward you And the distance changes shape [Final chorus] Draw me a route through the places that disappeared Leave one blank turn where the future gets near Let the vanished towns sleep under grass and sand I’ll follow your compass past the edge of the land [Аутро] Past the edge Past the edge of the land Your hand on the paper My name in the margin