[INTRO – solo Rhodes, voice slips in behind a bar] I left the gate unlatched... Not 'cause I meant to run— but the air felt like it knew my name and the door—it came undone. [VERSE 1 – slow swing, breathy low register] I kept the key in a shoe box, under bills and broken charms. But something knocked—not hard, not loud— Just knuckles made of calm. It said, “You can stay, or you can wander— but don't you dare get warm.” [CHORUS – melodic lift, rich ornamentation] I left the gate unlatched, and now the garden’s gone to grin. Vines on the mirror, boots by the hedges, sunlight sleeping on my skin. Oh, I left it— Just ajar. Like a lie told with a grin. [VERSE 2 – tempo doubles, vocal swings through syncopation] I wore my best regret to town, a secondhand silk grin. Pawned my shame for peach pit luck, and stitched my seams with gin. The world didn’t end. It just turned. Like a friend that never checks in. [REFRAIN – vocal stretch, slide guitar echoes last word] I left the gate unlatched— and no one stole a thing. But the wind walked in like she’d paid rent, and rearranged the spring. [VERSE 3 – rubato, half-sung confessional tone] A possum preached beneath my porch, a raccoon’s eyes said “leave.” Even the mailman cocked his head and slipped me one reprieve. I opened the jar marked “probably not,” and drank my self-belief. [BRIDGE – piano and clarinet only, whispered voice] Call it flight. Call it drift. Call it the hour when facts forget to rhyme. But if you find me folded neat, know I was wild, just out of time. [CHORUS – returns slower, clarinet echoes each line’s final vowel] I left the gate unlatched, the roses kissed my knees. Lace from the laundry waved goodbye, and blessed me with a breeze. I didn’t run. I didn’t stay. I just bent my no to please. [CODA – voice raw, final line unsupported, breath intact] I left it... the latch... and let the wild walk in.
