“yo… self don’t come easy… self don’t come cheap… you gotta cut through illusions like weeds, you gotta bleed in the void before peace agrees…” “yo… self don’t come easy… self don’t come cheap… you gotta cut through illusions like weeds, you gotta bleed in the void before peace agrees…” “yo… self don’t come easy… self don’t come cheap… you gotta cut through illusions like weeds, you gotta bleed in the void before peace agrees…” “yo… self don’ seen flickers of myself walkin’ ahead with eight arms, octagonal aura, floatin’ like a crook half an inch off the pavement, where dat sane went? each arm pointin’ a different direction like: past future pain power grief glory death rebirth yo self dont come eezy self dont come cheep you gotta rip thru illusions like wild weeds creepin up ya feet while the whole void whisperin eat eat eat and you bleedin in the silence cuz peace dont speak til you leak the old beast out ya heartbeat and I keep... repeatin dat mantra like a bitch cant, like a cracked feature in a busted alley talkin to the rats... stumblin behind that future flicker wid eight arms swirlin like octagonal pain bloat floatin crooked above the pavement like “where dat sane went?” bitch it evaporated the moment the mirror told me the truth hit different when you look long enough to see the rot under the gloss and each of them arms pointin somewhere I been runnin from: past future pain power grief glory death rebirth turnin like a busted compass tryna decide if I’m losin my mind or upgrading the find... so I start breakin myself down, no candles just streetlamps blinkin like they bouta snitch, rip the ego out like a loose tooth, spit the blood on the curb, stomp the habits til they crumble like chalk outlines in the rain tore pride in half like eviction papers yellin “fuck it take the whole house I’ll rebuild from dirt if I gotta” snatched the cries I been livin inside like cheap insulation, peeled it off the walls of my spirit til the wind hit raw bone and I felt everythin at once: shame and strength, weakness and hunger, fear and fury, the whole alphabet of who I pretended not to be... kept walkin, one foot in trauma one foot in transformation movin like a staggered drunk dumb mutha fucka mumblin under hushed breath, slang soaked sutras like “betta shatter yaself now before life do it later” cracks spread through like subway lines reachin every part of my system, and the demons livin in them cracks try to crawl out but I grab each one and squeeze til they drip into ink and write the next version of me... I break myself down so deep I forget the taste of the old me forget the excuses forget the slow death of stagnation forget the safe cages made from cheap comfort forget the smallness I wore like fake jewelry and in that void in that pitch black psychic basement where the world turns quiet as a held breath I hear that chant again, low and dusty: “yo… self don’t come easy… self don’t come “yo… self don’t come easy… self don’t come cheap… you gotta cut through illusions like weeds, you gotta bleed in the void before peace agrees…” “yo… self don’t come easy… self don’t come cheap… you gotta cut through illusions like weeds, you gotta bleed in the void before peace agrees…” “yo… self don’t come easy… self don’t come cheap… you gotta cut through illusions like weeds, you gotta bleed in the void before peace agrees…” “yo… self don’t come easy… self don’t come cheap… you gotta cut through illusions like weeds, you gotta bleed in the void before peace agrees…” seen flickers of myself walkin’ ahead with eight arms, octagonal aura, floatin’ like a crook half an inch off the pavement, where dat sane went? each arm pointin’ a different direction like: past future pain power grief glory death rebirth death rebir past future pain power grief glory death rebirth
