Lyric

I made my wanting quiet

I kept my hunger low

I changed the shape of my reply

Before you had to know

I watched your weather move

And called it loving well

I gave the room the softer truth

And kept my own to tell

Your silence trained my shoulders

Your kindness trained my hands

I learned which parts of me to fold

Before they made demands

Love taught me where to disappear

Work taught me how to stay

Family called it being strong

So I swallowed half the air away

I learned to breathe less

So nobody had to move

I made a smaller room inside

And called it getting through

I learned to breathe less

Until my chest forgot

That needing something deeper

Was not asking for too much

I buttoned up another weight

And walked into the day

I answered every morning light

Like I was not afraid

The office glass was shining

My name was on the screen

I kept my voice below the line

And did what they would need

At home, I sounded steady

I let the questions pass

I wore the calm they liked on me

Like pressure-proofing glass

No one meant to take it all

No one had to try

I handed over little breaths

And learned to live on dry

I learned to breathe less

So nobody had to move

I made a smaller room inside

And called it getting through

I learned to breathe less

Until my chest forgot

That wanting something wider

Was not asking for too much

There is a sound beneath my ribs

I have not used in years

A deeper air, a heavier truth

Held under all my fear

I do not know a full breath yet

But I know this one is mine

It rises slow inside the blue

Like pressure changing signs

Maybe I was never weak

Maybe I was trained

To make myself convenient

And call the quiet safe

Now I leave a little space

Where my need can live

Not enough to flood the room

Just enough to give

I learned to breathe less

But I am learning more

There is a wider dark in me

Than I was told before

I learned to breathe less

But the lesson comes undone

One long breath inside my chest

One small return begun