Learning to Leave You There

You left your coffee by the window

Cold before the morning came

I held the cup and watched the courtyard

Trying not to say your name

The hallway kept your coat-shaped silence

One loose thread against the door

I told myself I liked the distance

Then I missed you even more

I could have asked you to stay

But pride made a room of its own

So I let the quiet answer

I let the hours take your sight

If you ever wonder what happened

I was there, but I stepped aside

And now your memory sits beside me

Calm as dust on an old blue chair

I still care, I just don't reach you

And I'm learning to leave you there

Your photograph is in a drawer now

Under receipts from last July

I found it when I changed the batteries

And turned the frame away from mine

There are no villains in the story

Only words we couldn't arrange

You wanted something I could promise

I wanted time enough to change

I could've asked you to stay

But pride made a room of its own

So I let the quiet answer

I let the hours take your side

If you ever wonder what happened

I was there, but I stepped aside

And now your memory sits beside me

Calm as dust on an old blue chair

I still care, I just don't reach you

And I'm learning to leave you there

Maybe kindness is not a doorway

Baby, kindness is letting go

I can't wish you well from a distance

Without needing you to know

So I let the quiet answer

I let the years redraw the lines

If you ever wonder what happened

You were loved, just not in time

Now your memory sits beside me

Less like weight and more like air

I still care, I just don′t reach you

And I'm learning to leave you there

I′m learning to leave you there

I'm learning to leave you there