Kept

[Verse I] The house is quiet, the night leans in Snow loosens its grip on the eaves again Drip by drip, the dark softens slow Like secrets thawing I didn’t know I lay the fabric across the table Red and black, old and able Threads remember what hands forget Every seam a vow not said yet [Pre-Chorus] I was never meant to stay in place I was made to move, to change my shape [Chorus] Velvet keeps the shape of the cold But it yields when the fire is bold I am not broken, I am designed To bend with the turning of time I don’t bleed for the stories they tell I don’t haunt the rooms they sell I stand at the window, still and vast Looking through—not trapped in—the past [Verse II] They dressed me in names, they dressed me in fear Gilded the silence, sharpened the mirror But I learned the weight of what remains Is not the myth, but the chain Sleeves once opened, panels once free Made to breathe with the body of me Not a shell, not a frozen art But a living, listening part [Pre-Chorus] What survived was never the lie It was the form that knew how to try [Chorus] Velvet keeps the shape of the cold But it yields when the fire is bold I am not finished, I am aligned With every season I leave behind I don’t bow to the monster’s role I don’t fracture to make them whole I stand at the window, dress full and deep Stitching myself back while the world sleeps [Bridge] Snow is melting, hear it fall Soft percussion on stone and wall Each drop says: you’re allowed To change without being loud No throne above me, no abyss below Just breath, and fabric, and time to sew [Chorus (soft, almost a whisper)] Velvet keeps the warmth I choose It knows when to hold, when to lose I am not a myth, I am here Clear-eyed, winter-clear I don’t carry what isn’t mine I don’t mistake silence for sign I stand at the window, starlight spun A dress becoming—not undone [Outro] Needle down, night still wide Stars like pins on the other side If I leave a trace, let it be this thread— I lived inside what I made instead