Shatteredwake: The Last Benediction

Lyrics: [Verse] The church at the end of the road is empty now. The paint is peeling from the doors. The bell tower still stands, but nobody climbs the stairs anymore. I remember when the windows glowed at night. I remember voices filling every corner. Now the dust settles where the prayers used to land. And somehow that feels familiar. The years move quietly. They don't ask permission. One day the room is full. The next, you're the only one left inside. [Pre-Chorus] I've spent so many years chasing answers that I forgot how to sit with the questions. Maybe peace was never waiting at the finish line. Maybe it was hidden in the letting go. [Chorus] This is my last benediction. Not a plea. Not a confession. Just a quiet hand raised to the years behind me. This is my last benediction. For the things I couldn't save. For the words that came too late. For the love that remained anyway. [Verse] I found an old photograph inside a drawer. The edges had started to curl. Everyone in it looked invincible. Nobody knew what was coming. Time is strange. It takes the noise first. Then the faces. Then the certainty. Until all that's left is the feeling that something mattered. Even if you can't explain why. I used to think healing meant forgetting. Now I think it means carrying the memory without letting it break you. [Pre-Chorus] I've spent enough years waiting for things that never came. Enough years mistaking distance for understanding. [Chorus] This is my last benediction. Not a plea. Not a confession. Just a quiet hand raised to the years behind me. This is my last benediction. For the roads that led me here. For the wounds that taught me patience. For the love that remained anyway. [Bridge] If there is anything beyond this, I hope it is gentle. I hope it doesn't ask me to justify every mistake. I hope it doesn't measure a life by the things it failed to become. Let it be quiet. Let it be enough. Let it be a place where old regrets finally loosen their grip. [Chorus] This is my last benediction. Not a plea. Not a confession. Just a quiet hand raised to the years behind me. This is my last benediction. I release what I cannot carry. I forgive what I cannot change. And leave the rest to silence.