The Art of Staying

Starts when leaving would be easy

The plumber marked the ceiling
Where the winter water spread
The bank sent three reminders
We were sleeping in separate beds
I packed one blue suitcase
And I set it by the stair
You didn't block the doorway
Or pretend it wasn't there
You opened every statement
Laid the numbers in a row
Said, "I hid how bad it was
'Cause I was scared that you would go"

I can't ask you to stay
Inside a lie I made
But I can show you every page
And change what must be changed

This is the art of staying
Not standing still in pain
Naming what we damaged
And building it again
No vow can do the labour
No ring can take our place
The art of staying
Is the work we choose today

By March I sold the second car
And called the counsellor back
You took the Tuesday late shift
While we put the roof on track
We kept one hour on Thursdays
With both our phones away
Some nights we found forgiveness
Some nights we only stayed

The suitcase gathered dust
Till I gave it to a friend
Not because the hurt was nothing
But because the hiding had an end

This is the art of staying
Not standing still in pain
Naming what we damaged
And building it again
No vow can do the labour
No ring can take our place
The art of staying
Is the work we choose today

I didn't stay because I feared
An empty house or name
I stayed when truth became a door
And you walked through it changed

This is the art of staying
Two people telling true
Leaving room for mercy
While the proof is coming through
No vow can do the labour
Our hands must take its place
The art of staying
Is the work we chose today

The suitcase left the stair
The truth is staying here
The art of staying