The Rise Through the Ash (version 2)

Verse

Concrete cracked where the old streets were

Ash on my collarbone, city still burning

Windows shattered like a hundred hymns

Skyline breathing smoke into becoming

I used to walk this block like it owned me

Now I'm the one who's carrying something whole in every bone

Every corner that once kept me locked down

Is now just a doorway out into the dawn

Chorus

The fire was dark, but it built a ladder

Out of the ashes we become taller

I didn't climb for revenge, I climbed for light

To find my name inside this endless night

We are the spark that keeps on climbing higher

No more hiding in the dark, no more doubting our fire

This is the rise through the ash

Rise through the ash

I don't need what was holding me down

I am the one who's turning this whole town around

We keep standing where they tried to break us

That's the fire that the light won't shake us

So I'm raising my fists, I'm taking up space

This is the moment we turn every face

Into a reason to never give up hope

No one can say we're done, no one says stop

We are the spark that keeps on climbing higher

This is the rise through the ash

Rise through the ash

Verse

Six years of silence and I finally speak

My voice cracks loud like it was never meant to break

What my mother's shadow whispered that I should fear

Just turned into a whisper in her ear

The block was haunted by the ghosts of men who failed

Now we're building statues out of steel

Every window I broke is now a mirror

Reflecting everything this city ever needed

I used to hide behind the fear and doubt

Now I'm leading everyone I love without a doubt

The fire was loud, but it taught me how to listen

This is the only moment when we stop resisting

So I'm raising my fists, I'm taking up space

This is the moment we turn every face

Into a reason to never give up hope

No one can say we're done, no one says stop

We are the spark that keeps on climbing higher

This is the rise through the ash

Rise through the ash

Chorus

The fire was dark, but it built a ladder

Out of the ashes we become taller

I didn't climb for revenge, I climbed for light

To find my name inside this endless night

We are the spark that keeps on climbing higher

No more hiding in the dark, no more doubting our fire

This is the rise through the ash

Rise through the ash

I don't need what was holding me down

I am the one who's turning this whole town around

We keep standing where they tried to break us

That's the fire that the light won't shake us

So I'm raising my fists, I'm taking up space

This is the moment we turn every face

Into a reason to never give up hope

No one can say we're done, no one says stop

We are the spark that keeps on climbing higher

This is the rise through the ash

Rise through the ash

Bridge

They say the old ways died in the smoke

I say they just evolved into something better than we thought

Every scar on my back is a map to tomorrow

Not a reminder of yesterday's storm

I don't need forgiveness, I need witness

To everything that our hands have decided