Imperfect Man

The tide is low, the wind is still
I trace the edge where time can't kill
The things I said, the way I left
Still echo in my quiet steps

I never meant to sound so cold
It's just the way I've learned to hold
What breaks me more than I let show

I'm an imperfect man, I lose my place
Get tangled in what I can't face
But I feel things more than I admit
And carry them where they never fit
I don't shine, I don't pretend
But I still love, just not like them

The water moves, but not like me
I stand too long, then fail to speak
I try to change, I swear I do
But my truth has always sounded blue

So if you think I'm hard to read
Just know it's fear, not apathy
I'm softer than I let you see

I'm an imperfect man, I slip, I hide
Say I'm fine when I'm not inside
But I remember every word you gave
And all the silence I never braved
I don't glow, I don't perform
But I still feel, just in a storm

Maybe someone else would do it right
Would meet you whole beneath the light
But I'm just here, along the shore
With all my flaws and something more

I'm an imperfect man, I lose my way
But I mean it every time I stay
And if you find this side of me
In all the mess, in what I keep
You'll see I'm not made to impress
Just love you, quietly, no less