Ivan Solén
Knowing Better
Staying Anyway
May 21, 2026
Golden
Hour
"Somebody's rooftop, end of July
Your dress catching light
like it was trying"
"Golden hour on your collarbone
The kind of light that makes you
feel less alone"
"I wanted to touch
what the sunset touched
I wanted you badly
but I didn't rush"
"You asked my name
like you hadn't already heard it
I said it back to you instead
just to hear how it sounded
coming from a mouth
that close to mine"
"Everything was warm
and slow and right
Golden hour
That was the night"
Salt &
Skin
"August and the radio plays
A song that takes me back
to those days"
"Salt and skin
and California light
The radio still plays
that night"
"You laughed at something,
I missed the sound
I was already watching us
from the shore"
"I don't go back
because I miss you
I go back because I was
someone worth missing too"
Hotel
Pool
"Midnight and the hotel
holds its breath"
"Hotel pool and city light
Your skin against
the wrong side of the night"
"I learned the geography
of you by feel
The kind of real you spend
your whole life
trying to prove was real"
"You came to me
like water finds its level
Like something that was
always going to happen"
"Knowing better
Staying anyway"
Too
Real
"First light and your jacket
on my chair
Didn't plan on feelings
being there"
"Woke up and you were still there
Didn't move, didn't dare
Terrified by how good
you looked"
"What I meant was
I didn't sleep at all
I was too busy memorising
the way you breathe
when you think
nobody's watching"
"In the morning, in the light
In the middle of my life"
August
Always Ends
"Last night in the hotel,
sheets still warm
Nothing left to say
and nothing left to lose"
"August always ends like this
Warm skin
and a goodbye kiss"
"You didn't look back
I was glad
Because I wasn't ready
for whatever my face
was doing"
"Everything that felt like mine
Running out of summer time
But God it's good
while it's here"