Scars I Kept Quiet (Version 2)

Intro

Rooftop door sticks, shoulder against the latch

Chalk numbers on the coop, Nine still got a scratch

Verse

Fourth floor stairwell smells like tar and rust

Wire mesh coop where the feathers turn to dust

My brother built it out of scrap wood and trust

Said every bird we lose is a lesson, not a bust

Cut my palm on the chicken wire, didn't flinch

Wrapped it in a rag, kept working, didn't pinch

Told Mama it was nothing, just a scratch from the door

Didn't want her worried about the roof no more

Number Nine got clipped by a hawk one July

Came back three days later, half his wing gone dry

Nursed him back on breadcrumbs, water in a cup

Brother said that's loyalty, the kind that don't give up

Block was testing everybody, corners getting tight

Offered me good money to sell the coop that night

Said no, kept the birds, kept the blood on my sleeve

Some things you don't cash in, some things you don't leave

Chorus

Scars I kept quiet, wore them like a coat

Didn't need the sympathy, just needed to stay afloat

Every cut's a story that I never had to tell

Scars I kept quiet, carried them so well

Verse

Building got sold, landlord tore the coop down

Watched the wire crumble, feathers hit the ground

Brother's in another state now, chasing steadier pay

Calls me every Sunday, same time, same day

Kept a scar behind my ear from a fall I never told

Ladder slipped on ice back when I was nine years old