Lyric

I shrink the tone before it hits the air

Cut corners on my voice so no one feels the edge

Half-lines scatter

Like this

Falling out of shape

I trim each feeling down to something harmless

You ask “you good?” and I nod too fast

A practiced echo, smooth and weightless

My name folds inward when you turn away

Leaving a hollow curve I keep filling

I take your trouble

Split it

Hide the wound inside my silence

You don’t notice what I trade to stay gentle

I fracture softly to protect your quiet

Every time I mute the heat under my tongue

I lose a piece

Then call it kindness

I say “it’s fine” though nothing sits right

The phrase twists thin, slips through my teeth

Quick sparks of thought too sharp to share

Vanish before they rise

I tint my tone warm so you stay steady

But the warmth drains me clean

Any care I give redraws my outline

Thinner, narrower, nearly gone

I hold your comfort

Tighter than my own shape

You don’t notice what I trade to stay gentle

I open cracks so you never feel the strain

Each time I shield your quiet with my quiet

I drop another part of me

And let it pass as kindness

If care means vanishing

I’ve given more than form can hold