The Board Is Bare

[Verse 1]
I count the squares I never crossed,
The doors I left unopened.
Each borrowed life still asks its price;
I keep its name unspoken.

[Pre-Chorus]
One pawn left trembling by the line,
No clean move left to make.
I stare until the board goes still—
Then let the picture break.

[Chorus]
Goodbye to all the lives I almost knew,
The other rooms I never wandered through.
I set each piece down; I release the game,
You don’t have to live inside my brain.

[Verse 2]
The careful one, the reckless one,
The one who stayed, the one who ran.
They crowd the edges of my sleep,
Like unfinished plans in my hand.

[Bridge]
No final move can turn back time.
No hidden square will make it mine.
I breathe out slow; I clear the board.
I am not owed another world.

[Final Chorus]
Goodbye to all the lives I almost knew,
The other rooms I never wandered through.
I set each piece down; I release the game,
You don’t have to live inside my brain.
[Outro]
The board is bare.
I’m here.