Used to buy the darkest coats Hide my hands inside the sleeves Learned to walk in smaller steps So my thoughts could never leave All those ties and quiet rooms Every joke I never made Smiled along and signed my name Like I wasn’t just afraid Now the mirror says my name In a softer kind of way All these lines across my face Marks of time I gave away I was standing by the door While my own life walked on through Now I’m learning how to stay In the shape of something true Saw a stranger on the train Hair in colors I once dreamed Laughed so loud the whole car turned She sat solid in her skin I kept staring at my shoes Felt the heat behind my eyes Every year a heavy coat Buttoned over quiet lies Now the mirror says my name In a softer kind of way All these lines across my face Marks of time I gave away I was standing by the door While my own life walked on through Now I’m learning how to stay In the shape of something true Will there be time To dance in this skin To kiss in the sunlight To let someone in I lost whole decades To a name that wasn’t mine Now every tiny first time Feels like stealing back the time Now the mirror knows my name Every curve and quiet scar I can breathe inside my voice Even if it came this far I was waiting in the wings For a cue that never came Now I’m walking on the stage And I’m keeping my own name
