memories... do not open

(Verse 1) There’s a box up on the top shelf, covered in dust and time, With a label written shaky, in a younger hand than mine. Every corner holds a heartbeat, every crease a quiet ache, And I swear it calls my name each night, like something half-awake. (Pre‑Chorus) I tell myself I’m stronger now, I’ve learned to let things go, But memories don’t fade away, they settle in the soul. (Chorus) So I whisper do not open, though it’s pulling at my mind, All the laughter, all the heartbreak that I left so far behind. Every picture is a doorway to a world I used to know, So I keep the box unopened… even though it hurts to close. (Verse 2) There’s a letter with a promise, one we never learned to keep, And a ticket from a midnight train where we swore we’d never sleep. There’s a song we wrote together, on a page that’s turning brown, And a map of all the places where we swore we’d settle down. (Pre‑Chorus) I tell myself I’m different now, I’ve grown beyond those days, But memories don’t disappear, they echo in the haze. (Chorus) So I whisper do not open, though it’s pulling at my mind, All the laughter, all the heartbreak that I left so far behind. Every picture is a doorway to a world I used to know, So I keep the box unopened… even though it hurts to close. (Bridge) Maybe someday I’ll be brave enough To face the ghosts I’ve stored away, To hold the past without the pain, To open up what I’ve locked away. But tonight I’m not that fearless— Tonight I let it stay. (Final Chorus) So I whisper do not open, though the memories still call, Every rise and every ruin, every moment of the fall. I’m not ready for the echoes of the life I used to know… So I keep the box unopened— But I never let it go