You Don't Know My Body

Verse 1 You caught me walking, so you thought I must be fine, Built a whole damn courtroom from a two-second glance of mine. You don’t know the steel beneath the shirt I wear, The screws, the scars, the nights I thought I’d never get back there. You see a smile, not the pain behind my eyes, You don’t hear nerves screaming every time I rise. Every damn trip outside is a fight I’ve already won, While you’re handing out opinions like they’re owed to everyone. Pre-Chorus Go ahead… stare me down. Pretend you’ve got me figured out. You want the proof? You want the show? How much of my body do I gotta expose? Chorus Should I pull up my shirt in this fucking parking lot? Show you every scar from the battles that I fought? Would an X-ray make you happy? MRI enough? Or do I have to bleed in public so you know life’s been rough? That little blue placard wasn’t handed out for fun. I paid for every inch of it… one surgery at a time. So keep your dirty looks and keep your damn advice— You don’t know my body. You don’t know my life. Verse 2 I’ve got metal holding pieces that my bones couldn’t save. Permanent nerve damage reminds me every day. Some mornings standing feels like climbing up a hill, But I got dressed and left the house because I’ve still got fucking will. You think disability’s a wheelchair every day, But pain wears camouflage in a thousand different ways. Just because I walk doesn’t mean I don’t break. Invisible ain’t imaginary, for heaven’s fucking sake. Bridge Congratulations… your spine still works today. Hope you never learn the price some of us have to pay. I wouldn’t wish this pain on anybody walking by— But maybe you’d quit judging if you lived one day in mine. Breakdown No… I don’t owe you paperwork. No… I don’t owe you my scars. No… I don’t owe you a damn explanation Just because you think you’re parking lot law. Final Chorus Should I keep my medical records in the passenger seat? Hang my MRI from the mirror just so strangers feel complete? Maybe next time I’ll bring the hardware they screwed into my back, Since basic human decency seems like something that you lack. Here’s a little gift before you drive away: Judge a little less. Listen a little more. And if bitterness is eating you alive… Go find a therapist. Because mine helped save my life… …maybe yours can save yours.