24 YEARS

I was born in someone else's light Running fast just to feel seen A boy with his fists up in the night Chasing ghosts nobody else could see Worked my hands till the bones ran dry Built a name from the ground up slow Met a woman with a storm in her eye Thought I'd finally found a home All my friends had kids and wedding rings Long before I ever found the one Late to the altar, late to everything But I swore to God the waiting was done Twenty-four years in another man's shadow Twenty-four winters, twenty-four springs Makin' excuses for the rain and the thunder Twenty-four years of forgettin' my name Twenty-four years Till the silence finally came One year turned to five, then ten Then a life I didn't recognize I was a stranger in my own skin again Wearin' somebody else's eyes The ball dropped on a Tuesday morning No goodbye song, no warning bell Just the truth I'd been ignoring Standin' at the gates of my own hell Twenty-four years in another man's shadow Twenty-four winters, twenty-four springs Makin' excuses for the rain and the thunder Twenty-four years of forgettin' my name Twenty-four years Till the silence finally came Then out of the blue, out of the gray Somebody smiled and called my name I thought these hands had forgotten how to feel Thought my heart was buried deep and sealed But hope came walkin' like a stranger at the door And I remembered what I'd been livin' for No more years in another man's shadow No more winters, no more cold springs The door swung open and the light came through her And I finally heard somebody say my name I finally heard somebody say my name Twenty-four years And I'm still here I'm still here.