The cloak I never took back

Verse I

I pulled you from the fire with my hands still stained,

Ash in your hair, but your heart unbroken.

You were so small, trembling in the rain,

And I wrapped you in lies I never spoke then.

They told me to end it.

They told me to forget.

But you looked at me like I was something else.

So I let you live.

And I let myself pretend.

Pre-Chorus

I said it was duty that kept me near,

Said I was shaping a blade for the throne.

But every time you said my name,

I knew—

I was raising you as my own.

Chorus

I should have been the wall, not the knife,

The shield that stood when the order came.

I taught you how to survive this life,

But never how to survive my shame.

If love is sin, then I’ll carry the cost,

I’d burn every crown to bring you back.

You were my daughter—

Gods forgive me—

And I am the reason you’re lost.

Verse II

I watched you grow taller than my regrets,

Silver-blue fire where fear once slept.

You learned to stand where others bent,

And I told myself that’s all I meant.

You called me steady.

You called me true.

You trusted the hands that would betray you.

I taught you honor.

I taught you war.

I never taught you what I’d do.

Pre-Chorus

Every lesson I gave you was edged with rot,

Every silence a vow I broke.

I told myself the end would not come,

But destiny doesn’t need permission to choke.

Chorus

I should have been the wall, not the knife,

The father who chose you over the throne.

I trained your hands for a soldier’s life,

Then left you to die alone.

If love is weakness, let it break me whole,

Let the world see what I lack.

You were my daughter—

Gods forgive me—

And I never brought you back.

Bridge

Do you remember the cloak?

Too big for your frame.

You held it like it was safety itself.

I said, “It’s only to keep you warm,”

But I was lying to you—

And to myself.

I never took it back.

I never could.

Because giving it to you

Was the closest I ever came

To choosing good.

Final Chorus

I walk these halls like a ghost in armor,

Every step echoes your name.

The sword still stands where you once did,

And it weighs more than any blame.

If there’s a place where the innocent rest,

Where fire can’t reach your skin—

Tell them I tried.

Tell them I failed.

Tell them I loved you in the end.

Outro

I pulled you from the fire…

But I left you in the flame.

And I will carry that

For every remaining day.