You always pulled the chair two inches back
before you sat down to drink your coffee black
The waiter knew your order before your name
but never knew why you smiled when the weather changed
I kept that habit after you moved away
still making room without knowing why I do it today
A little wooden mark on the kitchen floor
a quiet reminder I never asked for
I thought the hardest part was letting go
but it was learning what my hands still know
I leave the chair by the window
like the room still needs your shadow
Not because I’m waiting for you to come home
not because I can’t move on alone
I leave the chair by the window
where the morning turns the same gold
Some things don’t stay but they show me who I was
when I loved someone close
Your old recipe had a line crossed out twice
you never measured sugar you trusted your eyes
I laughed when you said “it tastes right this way ”
now I cook that mistake on ordinary days
Friends tell me I should change everything here
buy new furniture make the memories disappear
But every scratch has a reason to stay
every little mark knows a part of yesterday
I don’t need to hold onto what is gone
I just don’t want to erase where I came from
I leave the chair by the window
like the room still needs your shadow
Not because I’m waiting for you to come home
not because I can’t move on alone
I leave the chair by the window
where the morning turns the same gold
Some things don’t stay but they show me who I was
when I loved someone close
Maybe love is not a door we close
maybe it’s a mark beneath the paint we chose
You don’t have to be here for me to see
the person I became when you believed in me
I leave the chair by the window
not a promise not a shadow
Just a little place where my old heart knows
how far a simple moment can go
I leave the chair by the window
let the sunlight find it slowly
Some things don’t stay but they show me who I was
and who I’m still becoming