Mic in the Dark

[Intro] A dot Teller Same four walls I bring different light [Verse 1] Last night I emptied out the courtroom Today those same four walls became a darkroom They called me present, but the classroom closed The chatroom taught me love was absent, misspelled and underexposed The chatroom closed The courtroom closed The last room left becomes the groundwork Mic by the sink — that's where I work Bones pushed the pedals, Bear held down the back I played the medic in the middle of the pack Twenty years of self-diagnosis held me back At thirty-five, this mic lets me take it back Mother mistook the school bag for clutter; out the doorway it went Homeroom thank-you from the youngster; folded, sealed, never sent She saw old paper, just another hard copy She never knew that school bag held somebody [Chorus] Mic in the dark Mic in the dark Catching what the judge dismissed Picking up what the courtroom missed Mic in the dark Mic in the dark Recording what the room couldn't Hearing what the man wouldn't [Verse 2] Eight A.M., I stand — no verdict, no defense I read the hood firsthand — the only kind of sense Bought another man's heirloom with electric money promised What he quit remembering became my first time honest The receipt stayed taped to the box for eighteen months I called that unopened box a tomb I thought peeling back the tape might wake what I hid It felt like exhumation — and it did Stacked her finished textbooks for a mic stand my whole inheritance on hand wasn't cash, a name, or anything grown just homework she'd already outgrown Run the cord — plug the interface in All those months ignored — today I begin Same bathroom — broken latch, frosted glass Same darkroom — this time I bring the brass [Verse 3] Hit record. Don't speak. Two minutes of breath Run it back. A wok scrapes next door through the wall Nine years on this soundtrack, not one scrape I could recall The mic hears interest on a silent debt Stoicism with a beat under it is still stoicism in a costume I can't afford Take three — three words I owed the kid I ignored I say them now. The latch comes off the door The vacuum the courtroom left filled with sound from a wok I'd ignored for nine years Take four — I speak. The room reappears Turns out forgiveness is the volume coming back up Three boys, one chain, one hill — finally exhumed Forty minutes in. I stop — she'll be home again The mic never knew the names I buried then That's exactly what lets me introduce them [Chorus] Mic in the dark Mic in the dark Catching what the judge dismissed Picking up what the courtroom missed Mic in the dark Mic in the dark Recording what the room couldn't Hearing what the man wouldn't [Bridge] Six P.M. She's home. Sees the mic on the stand I ask: "con muốn ăn gì?" She says: "bánh canh" I say: "được". Sandals on. Down for the bowl She doesn't ask — she's seven. She lets it stand Two nights back, I climbed in, thief in an instant Tonight, for her dinner, I walk out different The latch is still broken But the man inside isn't [Outro] Hood doesn't notice. Alley keeps simmering low Corner grill fumes loom — then they let go Bucket fills. I empty it. The bucket goes back Mic in the dark, picking up the leak's slow track I'm not done I'm just resuming