Fences and Gates

[Intro] Soft footsteps on a familiar road, a breath of dust and rain [Verse 1] I walked back to the old hill where we carved our names in ash The swings still swing, but empty air holds every whispered laugh The lake remembers us in ripples, a postcard blurred by time What once was boundless wonder now wears a different light [Chorus] Time moved the fences, time moved the gates I’m older, but the echoes still feel like fate What I left behind is not the same And I’m learning how to love what remains [Verse 2] The corner store where we traded dreams now sells a quieter truth Maps on the wall point somewhere else, to cities we never knew I carry my small wreckage of courage in a pocket full of rain Growth tastes like goodbye, sweet with a hint of pain [Chorus] Time moved the fences, time moved the gates I’m older, but the echoes still feel like fate What I left behind is not the same And I’m learning how to love what remains [Bridge] If you return to a home you’ve outgrown, don't kneel at what changed Let memory be a lighthouse through the fog of grievances and gain [Chorus] Time moved the fences, time moved the gates I’m older, but the echoes still feel like fate What I left behind is not the same And I’m learning how to love what remains [Outro] So I walk away lighter, with something priceless in my hand: The soft ache of growing, and the courage to understand