It don’t have to hurt if
I stay in here with my thoughts and with
My mind because sometimes
I rather spend time with them because
Sometimes it hurts too much on the outside
It hurts so bad when reality hits me
It hurts and I
I lie and
I say “I’m fine, I’m fine” but the truth is
There’s a very thin line between the lie I tell and the tears and the fears that lie on the inside
It don’t have to hurt if I stay in here
If I stay clear of the news and the television and
If I don’t hear about more Black children gone missin or
No longer livin
If I don’t have to let my cup drain dry from the alibis of people always gettin and never really givin then
Maybe it won’t hurt
If I stay in here I don’t have to be misunderstood and if I stay in here
I could get to know me better because
In here she doesn’t have to be censored or assimilated or inundated with masks or with doubt
In here I could really learn what she’s really all about
Too loud, too dark, too I-don’t-really-look-the-part out there but in here
the part is all mine
And the time is my time, because sometimes there ain’t no time for me on the outside
All the while I reclaim my time while the outside still has the nerve to still say it still ain’t all mine
Corporations make money off the sick
While we all chokin’ out here on air that’s too thick while they tell us that
Global warming “doesn’t really exist” and
We all play the part, but the lies
They really don’t stick
It’s sick
But as the ways of the world smolder outside my door
I look over my shoulder and turn my back to the fire
It’s far too much to bare
It don’t have to hurt
So until the smoke clears
I’ll be in here