Blocklight Testimony (Version 2)

Intro

Corner pole's been humming since before I could walk

Sodium orange, buzzing low, keeping watch, no talk

Verse

Corner of Delridge and Ninth, pole's been bent since spring

Sodium glow flickers slow like a dying amber ring

Desmond ran the block for me back when I was skinny

Fronted me a jacket once, said pay it back when you can

That November night the sirens split the block in two

Desmond in the alley, cuffs cold, breath like smoke askew

Cop asked what I saw, I said nothing but the light

Lie sat heavy on my tongue like a stone rolled overnight

Wasn't lying for myself, was lying for his mother

Third floor window cracked, couldn't bury another

Already lost one son, brother folded in the ground

Wasn't gonna let the system fold another round

So I told the pole instead — steel don't testify

Gave it every detail while the cruisers rolled on by

Been carrying that truth in my chest like a loaded clip

Safety's on, but the weight still shifts with every step I take

Chorus

Blocklight testimony, sworn beneath the buzz

Kept it real for nobody but the corner, cause it was

Watching when the world wasn't, watching when I lost

Blocklight testimony — I already paid the cost

Verse

Five years later Desmond's back, walking with a limp inside

Some scar from county showers, story he won't confide

We dap under the same pole, bulb still stuttering weak

He says I know you kept it quiet, voice barely a squeak

I say wasn't for you, and he nods like he understands

Some debts don't get repaid in dollars, get repaid in hands

Held out mine, he shook it slow, grip like a rusted hinge

Both of us older now, block still wearing the same fringe

New kids run the corner now, don't know the pole's got history

Don't know that bulb's been keeping half the neigh