Lyric

They lifted crystal toward the light

Expecting sweetness from my mouth

I felt the sentence take its shape

Then let it disappear

Your mother smiled across the lace

Your friends leaned in for something clean

I touched the stem, lowered my eyes

And gave them only air

What I could have said

Would not have stayed beautiful

So I let the room keep waiting

With its candles burning low

There are words too sharp for silver

There are truths no glass should hold

The soup arrived, the talk resumed

A practiced mercy filled the plates

You laughed as if forgiveness

Had already taken place

I counted every chandelier

Reflected in your wedding ring

My hands remained composed

Around the damage I could bring

Politeness saved the evening

Not the person sitting near me

So I left the blessing empty

Let the silence wear my name

No one saw the wound I carried

No one tasted where it came

I was not being kind

I was choosing where to cut

Some refusals look like grace

When the table asks too much

Let them call it restraint

Let them praise the quiet tone

I kept the beautiful thing unsaid

And made the absence known