streetlights hum the same cold hymn,
orders fall like rain on tin
they thought we'd fold our anger small,
tuck it inside and forget it all
we kept the engines warm for pay,
looked away and made our way
there is a wound that will not sleep
it rusts the metal down so deep
so I try not for victory, not for fame,
I try because to move is not the same
I try for the ones the records hide,
I try because the heart has nowhere else to hide
they taught us patience like a chain,
how to be useful, not to name.
the ledger remembers, cold and slow;
it keeps the debt they'll always owe.
tiny things break empires down
the whispered no, the empty crown.
freedom grows in acts unnamed,
in doors we open, not the ones we claim.
the frontier's everywhere a foot, a note,
a single motion pushing back the choke.
so I try with a cracked voice and worn hand,
I try in the small places where we stand
I try not to vanquish, nor to shout,
I try because to do nothing just feeds doubt
Seems impossible alone and unsure
Authority is brittle oppression wears a seam,
it leaks and trembles under the weight of dreams.
A match in hidden rooms,
each expands the bloom.
Try because tyranny requires breath to keep,
Try because silence helps it sleep.
Try because a single too-many will break,
Try because dawn starts when someone wakes.
I try with nothing left but breath and sky,
I try and if we fail, we still tried.
I try for the stone, the song, the ones who came before,
I try because trying is the wound and the cure.
wake early. Fight the light that asks you to sleep.
Try.leak.