Care, But Don't Disappear

[Intro]
I know the look you give the hurting
Like a chair pulled from the rain
I know the part of you that whispers
You could carry all their pain

[Verse 1]
You learn their birthdays, learn their tells
The careful jokes, the private hells
You keep a place for every ache
And give away more than you can make

You say, “Come in, I’ll make you room”
Then sleep beside an empty spoon
Their sorrow settles in your chest
You call the weight a kindness test

[Pre-Chorus]
But love is not a locked front door
You do not owe your heart to every storm

[Chorus]
You can wish them well and still walk home
You can leave a light without becoming the road
A tender heart is not a house for every flame
You are allowed to care and keep your name
Care, but don’t disappear
Care, but stay right here

[Verse 2]
You take the call beneath the stairs
While your own good news waits upstairs
You learn to read each changing face
And lose the sound of your own pace

Some need a hand, some need a shore
Some need a help you can’t provide alone
You are not cruel for closing night
You cannot heal by bleeding out your light

[Pre-Chorus]
The hands that hold can also rest
A boundary doesn’t cancel tenderness

[Chorus]
You can wish them well and still walk home
You can leave a light without becoming the road
A tender heart is not a house for every flame
You are allowed to care and keep your name
Care, but don’t disappear
Care, but stay right here

[Bridge]
I’m sorry for the times I made a promise
Just to prove that I was good
I mistook my own exhaustion
For the only thing I could
Now I’ll meet you in the morning
With a heart that isn’t spent
I can love you without handing you
The whole of what I am

[Group Chants]
Care is not surrender!
Kindness has a door!

[Final Chorus]
You can wish them well and still walk home
You can leave a light without becoming the road
A tender heart is not a house for every flame
You are allowed to care and keep your name
Care, but don’t disappear
Care, but stay right here

[Outro]
I can see you
I can hear
I can love you
And stay here