I remember that girl by the window Counting every crack in the sky She thought the world had forgotten her She didn't know she was learning to fly She wore her silence like a winter coat Even when the summer came She smiled so nobody would ever know How tired she was of being brave She kept old dreams in a cardboard box With letters she could never read And every time she lost a little hope She blamed herself for needing to breathe Oh, if I could go back I'd sit beside her in the dark I wouldn't tell her it gets better I'd just tell her who you are You are the girl I couldn't see The one who kept on saving me Through every night you thought would never end You were becoming your own best friend And all those tears you tried to hide Were little rivers leading you inside Now I look back and finally believe The girl I couldn't see Was always me I miss the girl who didn't know How beautiful her heart could be Before the world taught her to disappear Before she learned to doubt what she could be I miss those almost-forgotten days The little things I left behind Some memories still hurt like yesterday But now they hurt in a sweeter kind of light And if she could see me now Would she recognize my eyes? Would she know that all her waiting Wasn't wasted time? You are the girl I couldn't see The one who kept on saving me Through every night you thought would never end You were becoming your own best friend And all those tears you tried to hide Were little rivers leading you inside Now I look back and finally believe The girl I couldn't see Was always me I forgive you For the years you thought you weren't enough I forgive you For every dream you gave up For every door you couldn't open For every time you chose to stay For every version of yourself You had to leave along the way You didn't fail You were surviving You didn't fall You were arriving You are the girl I couldn't see The little ghost inside of me She carried every scar like it was proof That there was something left to lose And now I wear those years with pride I don't have to leave them all behind Some things are beautiful because they bleed Some goodbyes are how we learn to breathe So if you ever find me crying Don't mistake it for defeat I'm just finally meeting The girl I couldn't see She was never broken… She was becoming. And all this time… She was me.
