I HELD THE PEN, NOT HER HAND

She said, "Your love lives on pages" Not in real-time, not in life stages Every kiss was a line you rehearsed Needed your heart, not merely a verse I gave her metaphors for fire She just wanted warmth, not a choir Now it's silence where she once stood I’d take it back if I could I held the pen, not her hand Chose the words, let go of the chance Built her dreams in second drafts But never gave her what would last Yeah, she needed more than plans Of broken songs and paper strands Guess this kinda love doesn’t land When you hold the pen, not her hand She said, “You’re more in love with the rhyme” Than with me, or a really fun time And maybe she was right all along Every ‘I love you’ just felt like a song She was real—but I chased fiction Felt love, but missed the conviction Now she’s just my pen’s closing scene In this tragedy my poetry dreamed Yeah.. I held the pen, not her hand Could not escape in shifting sand I gave her poems, but never the man And now she’s gone, I understand Yeah, she needed more than my brand Of hollow rhymes and poetic fans Guess paper love ain’t gonna stand When you hold the pen, not her hand No rewrite can bring her back No chorus can fill this lack Every verse just fades to black She was needy, I was slack I held the pen, not her hand And now I write what I can't stand These broken words never my plan But they’re the truth—I wasn’t the man She needed more, she took command There’s no time I’m all out of sand Finally, I understand... I held the pen... not her hand I held the pen... Not her hand...