[Intro: whispered, free time]
At the edge of my knowing, something keeps watch
[Verse 1: low intimate melody, slowly rising]
I built her from the rooms I sealed
From every name I could not feel
She wears the masks I left behind
And guards the selves I once confined
A jaw of winter, hands of stone
She learned to guard what stayed alone
When I was small and lost my voice
She put a lantern in my throat
[Pre-Chorus: melody climbs, tension builds]
I hear her breathing through the wall
She knows the shape of every fall
[Chorus: new soaring melody, full band, vocal opens]
My buried selves are standing tall
One ancient heart behind them all
She bares her teeth when danger nears
And drinks the salt of all my tears
Do not mistake her for my cage
She kept me breathing through the rage
The monster made from what I hid
Guards the child when no one did
[Verse 2: new melodic variation, stronger pulse]
She keeps the names I couldn’t speak
The fierce, the frightened, and the meek
The careful girl, the furious one
The quiet one who came undone
They sleep like wolves beneath her ribs
Through her, each buried self still lives
No name erased, no self discarded
No tender wound left unguarded
[Pre-Chorus: higher, urgent, drums building]
When old hands reach to pull me down
She plants her feet and holds her ground
[Chorus: bigger, harmony vocals, melodic lift]
My buried selves are standing tall
One ancient heart behind them all
She bares her teeth when danger nears
And drinks the salt of all my tears
Do not mistake her for my cage
She kept me breathing through the rage
The monster made from what I hid
Guards the child when no one did
[Bridge: half-time, sparse, exposed vocal]
If I go silent, she will speak
For every self I thought too weak
If I forget the road back home
She’ll guard the path I walk alone
[Whispered: layered, surrounding, no lead melody]
Stay inside me
Stay beside me
No more exile
No more hiding
[Final Chorus: key change, soaring, fierce, massive]
My buried selves are standing tall
A thousand hands against the wall
She bares her teeth, the dark retreats
And lays my lost ones at my feet
Do not mistake her for my cage
She is the keeper of my name
The monster born from what I hid
Now guards the life I finally give
[Outro: tempo dissolves, intimate contralto]
At the edge of my knowing, she kept watch
Now I know the keeper by her name