Intro
Fourth floor walk-up, radiator ticking like a clock
I keep the sleeve down so the worry doesn't talk
Verse
Fourth-floor circuit box hums like it's counting my hours
Night shift at the depot, pallets stacked in towers
Forklift caught my wrist at three, bone popped like a knuckle
Wrapped it in a bandana, kept the cart from buckle
Didn't file the paper, cause the paper cuts the pay
Sister's tuition due, can't afford a sick day
Foreman asked me "you good," I said "never better"
Smiled through the throb like I'm reading a letter
Dario saw the wince, slid me two aspirin
Said "man, take the seat," I said "nah, I'm still standing"
Mama thinks I'm fine, tells the church I'm blessed
Don't tell her the brace I hide beneath my chest
Scar on my palm from the box cutter slip
Scar on my pride from the raise that never shipped
Every mark's a receipt for a bill I already paid
Kept walking through the pain so the family stayed made
Hook
Scars we don't show, but they carry the weight
Stitched in the sleeve so the smile don't break
Nobody sees what the shoulder still holds
Scars we don't show, but they still keep us whole
Verse
Grew up watching Pop limp off a warehouse floor
Told Mama "just a strain," walked in through the door
Learned the lesson early, the hurt stays a secret
Cause the block don't stop for a man who can't keep it
Check-cashing line on Friday, everybody counting cash
Nobody counting bruises underneath the coat and the sash
Laundromat downstairs got a dryer that won't spin
Fixed it with a coat hanger, still it cost me some skin
Fire escape rusted, caught my calf on the rail
Climbed it anyway to bring Dario his mail
He lost his job that winter, pride cracked like the ice
I covered half his rent, ain't ask him twice
Now he's back on his feet, sends me soup when I'm sick
Never talks about the debt, just the love that stuck
That's the currency out here, ain't printed, ain't seen
Scars for collateral, keeping the promise clean
Hook
Scars we don't
