[VERSE 1] Patina settles in carved relief lines names worn thin by weather and time wind cuts through the upper stone like it remembers what used to stand we stay where the monument gathers silence in the shape of what it lost every surface holds a version of before pressed into the grain and gloss [PRE-CHORUS] Not yet— don’t push it further some things only hold while untouched [CHORUS] Hold it steady in the fracture line don’t let it lean if it starts to shift it changes everything seen the inscription fades into weathered trace still pretending it means hold it steady in the fracture line while it holds [VERSE 2] There’s a crack running through the lower stone quiet like it’s learned to hide the edges don’t match what they used to be but no one draws the line you run your hand along the break in the face like it might smooth itself back the monument breathes in erosion slow and hard to track [PRE-CHORUS] Too close now— don’t name it once it’s spoken it won’t stay the same [CHORUS] Hold it steady in the fracture line don’t let it show if it gives even slightly there’s nowhere to go something in the shape won’t stay aligned but no one lets it fall hold it steady in the fracture line hold it at all [BRIDGE] Stone turns softer where it’s been watched too long edges worn by repetition of gaze what was built to outlast the memory of sound now holds only echoes that decay we adjust it without agreement keep it standing out of habit and care until even silence starts to feel like pressure in the air [FINAL] It still stands because we refuse to see it otherwise not because it hasn’t changed weather writes its own revisions in every surface rearranged so hold it steady— or let it slip either way it’s already split
