Martyrs

You wear the bruise before the blow Practice the plea in a mirror of glass Turn every breath into borrowed pain Count the witnesses you never had Hands up, palms clean Bloodless altar, spotless knife You kneel where the light is loud And call it a sacrifice There’s a hymn in your throat Learned, not lived A crown made of alibis Pressed down till it fits Martyrs with empty scars Nails drawn in chalk on skin You die every day for nothing And rise unchanged again Martyrs, mouths full of vows No cross, no weight, no cost You pray to the wound you invented And worship the blame you lost You harvest pity like grain From fields you never bled Turn consequence into a curse And truth into something unsaid Point to the fire you lit Cry out as the smoke climbs high Call the heat a holy test While the match sleeps by your side You keep receipts of your grief Stamped and filed A ledger of innocence Balanced in denial Martyrs with empty scars Nails drawn in chalk on skin You die every day for nothing And rise unchanged again Martyrs, mouths full of vows No cross, no weight, no cost You pray to the wound you invented And worship the blame you lost Who benefits from the fall? Who eats when the story bends? If everyone’s guilty but you Why do the patterns repeat? Count the times you were wronged Now count what you made of it If pain is your only proof What happens when no one listens? Break Stand up. Carry it. Name the hand you played. Stand up. Carry it. Stop calling gravity fate. Martyrs with empty scars Nails drawn in chalk on skin You die every day for nothing And rise unchanged again Martyrs, mouths full of vows No cross, no weight, no cost You pray to the wound you invented And worship the blame you lost Lay down the crown of complaint Let the quiet judge you fair If you want to be saved Stop asking to be spared