I grew up hearing stories Second-hand and incomplete Your name in other people’s mouths Never yours, never me They said you had my eyes They said you walked like this But all I learned about you Came wrapped in what I missed I learned to shave alone Learned to stand my ground Every time I fell There was no one around I wonder who I’d be If you had stayed If I had heard your voice Call out my name Would I be softer Would I be strong Would I have learned Where I belong I carry questions I can’t outgrow About a life I’ll never know I see you in reflections Men I pass on broken days I imagine conversations That we never got to play Would you have been proud of me Or afraid of what I am Would you have held my failures Or taught me how to stand I learned to hide the ache Learned to never ask How to be a man Wearing half a past I wonder who I’d be If you were here If I had learned from you Instead of fear Would I forgive Would I let go Would I have loved Without the doubt I know I carry silence Deep below From a life I’ll never know I picture us on quiet nights Nothing brave, nothing grand Just sitting there in borrowed time Your hand close to my hand You’d tell me where you came from I’d tell you who I am Two strangers learning slowly What blood alone can’t plan They say time heals But time just shows What never started Never grows I wonder who you were Beyond the truth they chose Beyond the rumors Beyond the ghost I don’t need answers I just need to say I lived a life That missed your way And every year I grow into The man I was Supposed to meet in you If somewhere you can hear me now I hope you know I tried I just wish I’d learned How to live By your side
