“If You Ever Return”
If you ever return with a breath and a pause,
Not seeking applause, not righting lost flaws—
Just walking back in like the soft evening rain,
I’d open the door, I’d welcome the pain.
For love doesn’t vanish when distance is near,
It holds through the silence, the doubt, and the fear.
And I, in my quiet, have left on the light,
Just in case hope finds its way home at night.
I won’t chase a shadow, won’t beg you to stay,
But I’ve made a place if you wander this way.
No questions, no judgments, no tally to keep—
Just arms that remember and promises deep.
I still taste your laughter in sips of my day,
Still feel your warmth in the words I don’t say.
And even if pages have turned in your book,
I’ve kept the corner—the place that you took.
So come if you wish, or stay where you are,
I’ll love you from here, from quiet and far.
But if your heart stumbles and reaches for grace—
You’ll find I’ve not moved. I’ve just saved your place.