No Clean Exit

Steel shoes on a velvet wire Each move is a match held to a fuse for hire They want a grin, they want a pose But I was built for the crack under the polished rows No clean exit, no brass-handled door Just a chain-link sky and a floor that wants more Iron weight on a cracked-in crown I keep my balance, but I don’t bow down This isn’t luck, it isn’t grace It’s teeth on the edge and a hard-faced pace Noon comes in like a bad disguise Makes a cheap shine off the wreckage in my eyes They sell me peace in a paper cup I drink it slow, then I spit the whole thing up No map, no charm, no hidden key Just a locked-up hall and it staring at me Iron weight on a cracked-in crown I keep my balance, but I don’t bow down This isn’t luck, it isn’t grace It’s teeth on the edge and a hard-faced pace Let them call it loss I call it backbone Let them count me out I make my own tone If the tightrope cuts, I cut back If the room goes cold, I bring black Not a saint, not a statue, not a pawn in a shine Just a hardwired pulse and a mind that won’t sign Iron weight on a cracked-in crown I keep my balance, but I don’t bow down This isn’t luck, it isn’t grace It’s teeth on the edge and a hard-faced pace