The Wall I Became

Before the City knew my name Before the armor, rank, and flame Safiyah held a candle bright And made the dark feel almost kind Hakim was sunlight on the floor Small hands reaching for the door We dreamed of more than staying alive A home where ordinary hearts could thrive But war has teeth, and time is thin It takes the room you buried in I stood with thunder in my hands And still could not save what I had I could not keep my own home safe So I became the wall Stone by stone, through grief and age I answered every call For every child beneath the sky For every door left open wide I carry what I could not save And I became the wall Safiyah saw the City rise Not as a fortress, but as lives Gardens growing, voices warm People dancing after storms But I kept hearing Hakim's name Inside the silence after flame Targe beside me, soft and still A ghost who knew the wound I hid She did not leave because love died She left the man I locked inside I wore my duty like a chain And called the weight another name I could not keep my own home safe So I became the wall Stone by stone, through grief and age I answered every call For every child beneath the sky For every door left open wide I carry what I could not save And I became the wall Commander, father, broken man A titan with an empty hand The Last City lights the night But one small house still haunts the Light No medal speaks, no anthem knows The private grave beneath the snow I gave the world my steady face And hid a family in its place I could not keep my own home safe So I became the wall Not made of stone, but loss and grace Still standing after all For Safiyah's dream of living days For Hakim's laugh I could not save I guard the dawn, I bear the ache And I became the wall When morning breaks above the Last City And children run where shadows fall Remember why I never leave I am the wound I am the wall