Playing Through Your Rests

[Intro: Detuned toy piano]
(One, two, wait)
I never learned the wait

[Verse 1]
I give until the giving
Stops resembling what you asked
You tell me you need distance
And I hurry to close the gap
I know the difference, clearly
I can explain it with such grace
Then my pulse begins negotiating
What my mind already knows

[Pre-Chorus: Glitch voices]
Is it love or my relief?
Am I helping you or me?

[Chorus: Soaring, syncopated]
I keep playing through your rests
Like the silence is a test
I can name the line precisely
Still I cross it in a rush
I know better, I know better
Why can't knowing make me cease?
Why does loving feel like panic
When you ask for peace from me?

[Verse 2]
I can speak of patience
Like I've practiced it for years
Then I feel the slightest distance
And surrender to the fear
Every apology is honest
But an apology's not change
If my need to feel forgiven
Makes you carry it again

[Bridge: Broken drums fall silent]
(Wait)
Let the silence have its length
(Wait)
Let affection prove its strength
My longing isn't permission
My worry isn't yours to mend

[Final Chorus: Harmonies interlock]
I will learn to count your rests
Even when they hurt my chest
If I love you like I tell you
I must honor what you ask
I don't know why I keep reaching
When I know I should release
So I'll study what lives beneath it
Without making you teach me

[Outro: One muted bass note]
Your rest belongs to you.