With a Friend

Verse 1: You never asked me who I was Or why I came this way You read the weight I didn’t speak And let it stay unframed

Pre-Chorus: You walked ahead without command But never out of sight You knew the turns I couldn’t see And waited through the night

Chorus: You showed me how to stand still Without becoming small How to hold a steady line And not be pulled at all No lesson carved in anger No truth I had to defend Just time that moved more gently With a friend

Verse 2: You spoke in pauses, not in rules In glances more than sound You let me fail, then find my feet With solid ground around

Pre-Chorus 2: You never named the road ahead Or warned me what I’d lose You only walked beside my steps And let me learn to choose

Chorus: You showed me how to carry weight Without hardening my hands How to leave the blade at rest And still remain a man No oath beneath the branches No vow that had to bend Just trust that grew in silence With a friend

Bridge: If all my paths were drawn in fire You stood where shadows cool Not to change the course I took But make it possible to choose

Final Chorus: You showed me how to breathe again Where nothing had to end How time could slow its passing When it didn’t need to mend No crown, no watching banner No future to defend Only days that felt like living With a friend

Outro: When memory asks who knew me then Before the edge, the bend I’ll remember how the world felt whole When I walked beside my friend