Steph Something - Composition, Lyrics, Melody, Guitars, Vocals
Jochen Fleischmann - Drums, Bass, Production
I Defend It
Between each breath
Where the soul’s spine bends
I keep myself in silence
Not to stay hidden
But to know who to allow in
Because peace is not passive
It’s an act of architecture
Every boundary is a beam
Every no, a brick that keeps the weather out
They call me distant, sometimes difficult
But I am just learning the sound of my own echo
In a room I finally built myself
No performance required nor desired
I cherish it
I defend it
I keep it guarded because
I built it from everything I refuse to lose
They won’t take from me
The thinnest slice of peace
The thought where I get back to who I am
The world disguises sledgehammers with compliments
They try to take it with flattery
With guilt
Or the slow erosion of constant explaining
Their goal is that I exploit myself
So they may sell it back to me
But I will protect it
The part of me unedited
The thought not meant to be communicated
No performance required nor desired
I cherish it
I defend it
I keep it guarded because
I built it from everything I refuse to lose
The silence sighed by stillness
The heartbeat of my authentic rhythm
And when the noise finally eats its own tail
And the world quiets just enough
I’ll hear it breathing in me
My original language
I keep it guarded because
I built it from everything I refuse to lose
© Stephanie Gilliard
