i'm still here

I spent years talking sideways so nobody saw the bruise

Learned how to make it lighter every time I told the truth

I was good at being wanted for a moment, not a life

I mistook the noise for closeness and the quiet for a sign

But something in me never folded

Never learned how to disappear

I'm still here

I didn't leave myself behind

I bent, I broke, I lost some time

But I'm still here through the static and the fear

If I'm anything at all, i'm still here

I let the world keep moving while I stood just out of frame

Every version had a purpose

Every silence had a name

I thought love was being useful or being easy to replace

But the truth kept getting louder every time I lost my place

And I don't need to be chosen just to know I'm real

I'm still here

I didn't leave myself behind

I bent, I broke, I lost some time

But I'm still here through the static and the fear

If I'm anything at all i'm still here

Maybe healing isn't fixing

Maybe it's staying when the old ghosts knock and don't get their way

Maybe I don't need tomorrow to look like yesterday

I just need to know i'm allowed to stay

I'm still here with my feet back on the ground

I don't need to figure it out

I'm still here

And for the first time it's clear

If I'm anything at all, i'm still here

Yeah, I'm still here