The Forgotten Soul

The gates appear through morning mist
These walls I fought to keep
But every stone and every street
Feels foreign now, too deep

I watched the horizon every dawn
Waiting for your shadow's return
I clutch the necklace that you gave
The only warmth for which I yearn

My armor's gone, my sword laid down
But weight still crushes me
I see her face in every dream
But I'm no longer free

Your footsteps echo down the hall
Your arms around me feel so near
Yet when I look into your eyes
I see a stranger standing here

I came back home
But you're still gone
I can't explain
What went wrong
We're standing close but worlds apart

These hands that held you now have stained
You came back home, but not to me, your body lives, your heart is gone
I hear your voice, but I can't see, the man I was before the dawn
I waited so long to feel your arms, now I hold a ghost instead
I survived the blade, the war, the storm, but left my soul among the dead

I try to hold you like before
But my hands remember steel
I close my eyes to kiss your lips
But all I taste is what was real

The gentle man who left this house
Who held me tender, soft and true
Was buried somewhere on that field
And I'm in mourning, though you're here beside me now

The screams still echo in my mind
The faces never fade away
You whisper " welcome home, my love
But I was lost along the way

You flinch when thunder breaks the sky
You wake up screaming every night
I reach for you but you retreat
Into the shadows, from the light

I'd trade the glory, trade the scars, just to have your old heart back
Tell me what you saw out there
Things I cannot share
Let me heal your wounded soul
Some wounds never make you whole
I'm still here, I'm still your home
But I will always be alone
In this house of broken vows
We're together, yet apart somehow

They said you'd come back crowned in fire
A hero forged by pain and steel
I came back haunted, not inspired
With scars no hands can ever heal

You came back home, but not the same
The war still burns behind your eyes
I carry love wrapped up in shame
Afraid to let it hear my cries

I held the door, I kept the flame
Believed your soul would find its way
I crossed the world to earn your name
But lost myself along the way

Where is the man I used to know?
Where is the love we used to show?
The war has taken more than blood
It took the heart I understood
You wear his face, you speak his name
But nothing ever feels the same
A ghost came home from distant lands
With empty eyes and bloodstained hands

I crossed the mountains, crossed the sea
But you left yourself in that valley
I fought so hard to get back here
But the man I loved
Disappeared
The soldier came home from the war
But the man I knew
Walks through that door no more

I came back breathing
But the man you loved
Died on the battlefield