Steps We Never Took

You tied your hair
With that fraying navy ribbon
Said
“I’m not scared
Just tired of staying hidden”
Coffee on the stove
Went cold while we were talking
Every word we chose
A step we never walked in
Hold my name
Like a letter you never sent
All those roads
We folded and left unbent
If this is all we ever get
These almost-words
These almost-steps
I’ll learn to love
The steps we never took
You traced a map
On the frost along my window
June was far
But we dreamed beneath the pillow
You said
“Someday
We’ll drive until the signs stop”
We laughed it off
But both of us believed it
Hold my name
Like a letter you never sent
All those roads
We folded and left unbent
If this is all we ever get
These almost-words
These almost-steps
I’ll learn to love
The steps we never took
Maybe in a softer year
We stay
Maybe in another town
We stay
I keep seeing every version
Of your face
All of them are turning
Back to say
Hold my name
Like a letter you never sent
All those roads
We folded and left unbent
If this is all we ever get
These almost-words
These almost-steps
I’ll learn to love
The steps we never took
Hold my name
‘Til it trembles on your tongue (oh)
All those roads
Still waiting to be run
If this is all we ever choose
These almost-wins
These beautiful almost-loses
I’ll learn to live
Inside the steps we never took