Learn her name

She was small as a sparrow in a house that lost its light Learning how to listen for the crash behind the night The man who should've held her was the shadow at the door Every step his boots would echo like a warning through the floor Bruises bloomed and faded, but the silence stayed to stay And his leaving made a language she would carry every day So she learned to read the ceiling, to be quiet, to be still To fold her little heartbeat under someone else's will Love is a word she learned to fear A song that broke before the end If hands come close, she disappears She won't believe in safe again Oh, love is a fire, love is a storm She built her shelter from the rain The child is gone, the wound is warm And every promise sounds the same Now she's grown in amber sunlight, beautiful and hard to reach With kindness in her manner and a lock behind each beach She smiles like she's forgiven, but the little girl looks out From behind her steady breathing, from the quiet after doubt Every door she leaves half-open, every prayer she leaves unsaid Every man who says forever finds a ghost beside her bed Because the first love that she carried taught her trust could split in two And a heart can learn the hard way how to beat without the truth Love is a word she learned to fear A song that broke before the end If hands come close, she disappears She won't believe in safe again Oh, love is a fire, love is a storm She built her shelter from the rain The child is gone, the wound is warm And every promise sounds the same Still, somewhere under all that armor, there's a thread of morning gold A voice that wants to answer when a tender hand is held Maybe healing isn't holy, maybe it is slow and small One true name said gently enough to keep her from the fall Love is a word she learned to fear A song that broke before the end If hands come close, she disappears She won't believe in safe again Oh, love is a fire, love is a storm She built her shelter from the rain But if you stay and nothing's torn Maybe love can learn her name