Then stay

You always sounded distant

Like thunder far from home

A name the night remembered

A door half closed by grief

So hearing something honest

From someone made like you

Feels like the air just shifted

Inside a wounded room

You call me Rose so softly

Like it was made of truth

Not something thrown in passing

Not something light or loose

And maybe that is why

It reaches somewhere deep

Because you do not say much

Unless you mean it first

Then stay

Not halfway through the door

Then stay

Like you have never done before

Stay when I go quiet

Stay when the old ache wakes

If what you feel is real

Then stay

I asked for something steady

For hands that do not fade

For love that does not borrow

The fire and walk away

You heard me when I said it

You did not turn aside

You stood inside the silence

And answered without fear

I am still soft in places

The world could not quite harden

I still wear red like hope

I still believe in light

But I am not that girl now

Who called all silence love

I know my heart is precious

I know what it deserves

Then stay

Not halfway through the door

Then stay

Like you have never done before

Stay when my smile looks fine

Stay when the room turns gray

If what you feel is real

Then stay

I see the hurt in you too

The ghost inside your calm

The walls you built from silence

The dark you learned to wear

And I am not afraid of

A heart that learned through pain

I only want the kind of love

That does not turn away

Shadow

I am not asking perfect

I am not asking ease

But if your hand is steady

Then mine can learn it too

Not loud enough to frighten

Not fast enough to break

Just real enough to last

Just warm enough to keep

Then stay

And let your actions speak

Then stay

And mean it when you reach

Stay and I will meet you

No mask no chase no game

Still soft

Still strong

Still here

Then stay