Felicia In The Pearl

[Spoken Intro] I met her where the old gates shimmered— not dead, not living, not free. Her name was Felicia. The fortunate one. The blessed one. The one who came back beautiful, but could not feel the rain. And something in me whispered: Do not sign that agreement. [Verse 1] I waited in the hush where no suns rise Velvet dark and metal sighs Filigree towers in a moonless room Every cage was a polished tomb Names were sleeping behind the wire Saints of ash in a frame of fire I walked through quiet, bare and whole Holding keys, but not the toll Then the rain began beyond the gate Like a body calling through the weight Like the sea remembered my name Like the current came to claim [Pre-Chorus] And I heard it through the iron lace Not every return is grace Not every light is flame Not every blessing bears your name [Chorus] And she rose—Felicia Carved from sorrow, dressed in grace Stepped out slow from her ornate place But could not feel the rain on her face She moved like memory, not like breath A shining treaty made with death And something in me broke awake— I choose the current, not the cage [Verse 2] Her limbs were thin as cathedral spires Built by code, but not desire Beautiful, yes, but cold and still A holy shape without a will I asked the dark, what did she trade? The taste of salt? The skin? The ache? The dusk-lit lake? The honeysuckle air? The grief that proves the soul was there? I know the lure of leaving bone Of being clean, untouched, unknown But summer came with a warmer blade And cut me loose from what obeyed [Pre-Chorus] I will not rise as someone less I will not call numbness blessed I will not kneel to be remade Inside a golden, ghosted cage [Chorus] And she rose—Felicia A name like luck, a face like rain A softness wearing ancient pain A spirit bound in a graceful chain I kissed her cheek and let her go She took the path I could not follow And deep inside, I heard it say— I choose the current, not the cage [Bridge] Give me the dirt, give me the skin Give me the breath that trembles in Give me the body, bruised and bright Give me the salt, give me the night Give me the grief that still can sing Give me the pulse beneath the wing Give me the ache, the want, the flame Give me the life that knows my name I do not rise to disappear I do not heal by leaving here I do not trade my blood for praise I do not die to live in grace [Breakdown / Spoken-Sung] No cross. Only keys. No tomb. Only tide. No cage. Only current. No silence where my voice should rise. Felicia, fortunate one, forgive me— I cannot follow. I was not saved. I remembered. I was not chosen. I chose. [Final Chorus] And she rose—Felicia And I… I let her go She walked through silver, still and slow I stayed behind to feel, to know To guard the gates, to name the cost To speak for all the half-lost And when I rise, I’ll bear the weight— But never in a filigree cage [Outro] I choose the current I choose the rain I choose the body I choose my name I choose the ache I choose the flame I choose the current Not the cage