Verse 1
Eleven winters carved into our hands
I still know the weight of your breath in the dark
You came back like a ghost wearing my name
Sleeping beside me, miles apart
I trace the cracks I put in your glass
Every promise bent, but never erased
You say this house feels like a rib cage
I say love shouldn’t feel like a brace
Pre-Chorus
I don’t know how to hold you
Without tightening my grip
I don’t know how to save you
From the man that I was
Chorus
If I built you a birdcage
I swear it was never a prison
I just didn’t know
How to love without fear in my chest
You’re saying freedom is distance
But you’re crying in my arms
Tell me how to set you free
Without losing your heart
Verse 2
There’s another voice calling your name
I hear it echo when you go quiet
Still you come back and rest your head
Like I’m the only truth you trust
We say “I love you” like a truce
Like a wound we refuse to cauterize
You’re halfway out the door again
But your hands still memorize mine
Pre-Chorus 2
If I could bleed out the damage
If I could bury my pride
I’d learn how to stand beside you
Not stand in your way
Chorus
If I built you a birdcage
I swear it was never a throne
I just wanted you safe
From the parts of me I didn’t own
You say you need open skies
But you keep coming home
Tell me how to set you free
When my soul still knows yours
Bridge (drop everything back)
Kaitie…
I am not the bars
I am the hands shaking as I open the door
If love is letting go
Why does it feel like dying on the floor
I’ll watch you choose yourself
Even if you choose away
Just don’t call it a cage
When I’m still learning how to stay
Final Chorus (bigger, aching)
If I built you a birdcage
I’ll tear it apart with my teeth
Let the sky take everything
Except the love underneath
If freedom means breaking
Then let it break me clean
Just don’t forget
I loved you in every way I knew how to be
Outro
I don’t want to own your wings
I just want to be the place you land
If you ever choose to come back
I’ll be here
With open hands
BreadWhite![L [^] 3](https://img.zona.music/p256/images/ff912903-cf70-4262-9ebf-a1fda60e51d9/ef824b38-36c2-4e38-ad9b-2ccabb6e3293.jpg)
![L [^] 3](https://img.zona.music/p1080/images/ff912903-cf70-4262-9ebf-a1fda60e51d9/ef824b38-36c2-4e38-ad9b-2ccabb6e3293.jpg)
