Hold Still

Hold still, but softly
Place your hands where you see the marks
Remember the way he used to hold it?

We’re headed for a long journey with no turns in sight
At least for a while

The desire to let go boils in my stomach
And yet those are not my own hands on the wheel

The once smooth, synthetic leather glued on a metal rim
Soon may turn too old for any use

But my gut knows that it’ll always keep us in the lane

What if we go too far?

I’d make that turn if it isn’t too late
And still, I’m yet to grab it myself

Pops would one hand it sometimes
And now that he’s gone, it’s automatically handed down to…

We exchange an awkward look

Long before our broken hearts are mended
one of us will need to shake it off today

Wrapping the cold metal with the palms
and letting the soft flakes caress the fingers

And we’ll prevent the lane departure
I mean, we’d better, especially when there’s no one else around to do so for us

So hold still, but softly
We’re headed for a long long journey

It’s either we live or fall apart

Traffics maybe ahead but it’s all right
Perhaps close calls on yellow lights
And brief pauses on red lights
But overall, I know that it’ll be a steady green
We’ll drive until this white noise of the radio becomes music

We’ll ride the wave of this new song
With a heart-beating intro
Followed by a verse that speaks our stories
And a chorus that shall never end
Maybe even a bridge that will stop the clock

And before we know it, we’ll face the glorious light of Coda
Looking back with a great shame that we’ve come to an end
Imagining how we’d rewrite this music

Daeyong Lim is a Korean-Canadian vocalist, arranger, writer and an arborist based in Toronto. Born and raised in Seoul, Korea and growing up in Toronto, he’s on a journey to create art that celebrates the quiet and invisible parts of our society. You will find him performing at local venues and parks or aimlessly roaming around on his bicycle. Holler if you see him!