The Road That Keeps Me Alive

[Verse 1]
You left your blue scarf at the station
Your silver ring beside the sink
I kept each promise like a station
Where every train could stop and think

You said my name like it was shelter
Then took the county road at dawn
I gave my heart away in handfuls
And wondered why the map was gone

[Pre-Chorus]
Now every mile has your handwriting
Every sign points somewhere new
I can’t keep calling every turning
A road that leads me back to you

[Chorus]
I’m at the fork where the old pines lean
With a pocket full of almosts and a heart between
One road says stay where the hurt feels known
One road says walk till I’m my own
I gave too freely, I gave too wide
Now every path has a piece of my life
Tell me, heart, when the signs all divide
Which road is mine? Which road is mine?

[Verse 2]
There’s Mara by the harbor window
There’s Jonah with the Sunday bread
There’s your old key beneath the flowerpot
And all the things I never said

I called it kindness, called it courage
To leave one door unlatched for all
But love can turn to open water
When I forget where my banks should fall

[Pre-Chorus]
Now every mile has your handwriting
Every sign points somewhere new
I can’t keep calling every turning
A road that leads me back to you

[Chorus]
I’m at the fork where the old pines lean
With a pocket full of almosts and a heart between
One road says stay where the hurt feels known
One road says walk till I’m my own
I gave too freely, I gave too wide
Now every path has a piece of my life
Tell me, heart, when the signs all divide
Which road is mine? Which road is mine?

[Bridge]
Maybe the answer isn’t choosing
Who gets the whole of me tonight
Maybe a hand can hold its promise
And still let go without a fight
I’ll take the road that asks me honestly
What I can give and what I need
I’ll stop mistaking open borders
For a heart that has to bleed

[Group Chants]
Keep your name!
Keep your ground!
Turn around!
Turn around!

[Final Chorus]
I’m at the fork where the old pines lean
But I’m not every road I’ve ever been
One road holds love, one road holds home
I can choose and still not walk alone
I gave too freely; now I give with care
A whole heart isn’t a heart laid bare
Tell me, heart, as the signs fall aside
I’ll take the road that feels like mine

[Outro]
The blue scarf waits by the station door
I don’t have to carry it anymore
At the fork, as the morning arrives
I choose the road that keeps me alive