If I stay I mean it

You asked for something real

Not light that disappears

Not hands that touch and fade

Not heat without a home

I heard you through the noise

Through every guarded word

You never hide your heart

You carry it with strength

Rose

I am not built like him

I do not move like light

I do not laugh then leave

I do not love like wind

I know the weight of ghosts

I know what silence costs

I know what almost does

To hearts that stay too long

You said your heart is soft

But not for empty hands

You said if love stays near

Then let it prove its name

So here is what I have

No gold no easy flame

No bright theatrical lines

No dream I cannot keep

But if I stay I mean it

If I stand I stay

If I say your name once

It does not fade by dawn

Rose

I do not offer sunlight

I do not shine that way

But I can be the night

That never leaves your side

I saw the hurt you hid

Behind your hopeful smile

The way you held your fire

Like warmth could conquer grief

You were never too much

Never a foolish wish

Never a passing spark

Never a childish dream

You were the one still standing

When softer hearts gave way

You kept your colors bright

Inside a world gone cold

And I am not untouched

By all that you have been

The strength inside your kindness

The calm inside your pain

You make the silence shift

You make the armor ache

You make the walls feel thin

You make the dark speak back

That is not easy truth

For someone made like me

But I will not insult you

By hiding from it now

If I stay I mean it

If I stand I stay

I will not love in pieces

I will not fade by dawn

I will not ask your heart

To live on almosts now

I know what almost leaves

I know what waiting kills

So I will not say forever

Like that can heal the past

I will not dress my care

In words too bright to trust

I will say this instead

You matter when it hurts

You matter when you shake

You matter when you fall

You matter past the smile

Past ribbons and past red

Past everything this world

Mistakes for something small

Rose

If you are tired of echoes

Then hear me answer plain

I am not here to borrow

The fire inside your chest

I am here because I chose

Not guilt not chance not drift

I am here because your heart

Is something I protect

If I stay I mean it

If I reach I stay

If I take your hand once

I do not turn away

No race no borrowed daylight

No half step through the door

Just truth with all its scars

And care that does not flinch

You asked to be seen clearly

Then hear me clearly now

I see the hurt you carry

I see the hope you kept

I see the girl in pink

And everything beneath

The one who stayed kind

When kindness only bled

And if you let me near

I will not ask you dim

I will not ask your heart

To make itself less bright

Stay fierce

Stay soft

Stay exactly as you are

Rose

If I stay I mean it

If I love I stay

Not loud

Not fast

But true enough to remain