Too Late to Know

TOO LATE TO KNOW

By Kimberly Arce

Verse 1

I was learning how to breathe

while you were learning how to leave

Two souls in the same house, living different truths

I called it forever back then, didn’t see

how forever doesn’t end — it thins

like a tide that disappears without a sound

Pre-Chorus

And I kept saying, one more year

kept saying, I’ll meet you there

By the time I knew what love was

you were already gone in pieces

Chorus

I never truly had it

or maybe I was close

Close enough to feel the warmth

not enough to hold

Now I’m standing in the open

arms finally wide

But no one holds me like you did

nowhere else has felt like home

I finally know how to love

just not who to love tonight

Verse 2

Seven years of almost speaking

seven years of almost seen

We learned how to function, not how to lean

And I can feel you letting go now

as I’m finally learning how

to be the love I need for the woman I now see

And I’m out here practicing love I don’t feel

knowing in my heart none of it’s real

Pre-Chorus

And I keep asking, where’d it go

keep asking, did I know

What I was holding in my hands

before I let it slip through

Chorus

I never truly had it

or maybe I was close

Close enough to feel the warmth

not enough to hold

Now I’m standing in the open

arms finally wide

But no one holds me like you did

nowhere else has felt like home

I finally know how to love

just not who to love tonight

Verse 3

You said something didn’t feel right

showed up unannounced that night

Door unlocked, lights low, silence in the hall

I was on the floor, couldn’t move

somewhere between gone and bruised

Didn’t even hear you when you called

You didn’t ask me what was wrong

you just knelt and pulled me up

Held me like my body still belonged to me

Stayed until my breath came back

till the shaking finally passed

Then you helped me stand and face the day again

Bridge

Maybe love’s not loud or sudden

maybe it waits until you break

Maybe I was always capable

just a version too late

I don’t blame you or myself —

just the timing, just the years

I became who I was meant to be

when no one stayed to see

Final Chorus

I never truly had it

or maybe I was close

Close enough to feel the warmth

not enough to hold

Now I’m standing in the open

arms finally wide

But no one holds me like you did

nowhere else has felt like home

I finally know how to love

just not who to love tonight

Outro

So I’ll keep showing up to tables

keep saying yes to this

That fragile, almost something

that almost-perfect kiss

If it’s out there, it will find me

now I know what I allow

I finally know how to love

I’m just learning who and how

© Kim Burgess — Too Late to Know