Echoes I Can’t Name

(Low strings, piano motif, distant choir “ahhh…”)

There’s a hallway cold and dim

I press my back against the brim

Of every shadow I have known

A room where love was never shown

Footsteps fading down the hall

Hands I held, then lost it all

I reach for warmth that wasn’t there

A quiet voice that disappeared

I try to follow where it leads

But it slips away like whispered pleas

Like I’m tracing someone else

Like I’m not myself

Blurred faces, broken frames

Calling out forgotten names

I was there but not the same

Just echoes I can’t name

Faded laughter, distant cries

Hidden truths behind my eyes

Every truth I can’t reclaim

Just echoes I can’t name

Ahhh… (rising, fragile)

Ohhh… (falling, trembling)

Stay… (soft)

Don’t fade… (echo)

I learned silence like a shield

Something safe, something concealed

I smiled when the room was cold

Held my tongue, did what I was told

Windows closed to keep me in

Yet wind could still reach under the skin

A contradiction I can’t explain

I loved the warmth, I feared the pain

I search for something I can hold

But every piece feels far too cold

A story written out of place

A life I can’t retrace

Blurred faces, broken frames

Calling out forgotten names

I was there but not the same

Still echoes I can’t name

Faded laughter, distant cries

All the truth I’ve learned to hide

Every wound I couldn’t claim

Still echoes I can’t name

Don’t let me disappear… (ahhh…)

Don’t let me fade… (ohhh…)

Was I ever really here…? (rising)

Or just something you made… (echo)

Was I too quiet… or too loud…

Did I vanish in the crowd…

If I reach into the past

Will I find myself at last…?

Or just shadows…

Looking back…

At me…

Pieces of me scattered wide

Cracks in armor I can’t hide

Trying hard to make it clear

But the truth won’t reappear

Blurred faces, broken frames

Calling out forgotten names

I was there but not the same

Still echoes I can’t name

Faded laughter, distant cries

All the truth I’ve learned to hide

Every wound I couldn’t claim

Still echoes I can’t name

Ahhh… (choir echo)

Stay…

Don’t go…

I was there…

I know…

(piano + distant choir)

I was there…

Wasn’t I…?

(final soft “ahhh…” fades into silence)