scar-on-the-door

I was six with a split

lip and a name I won't

say

The halls smelled like bleach and

a storm wouldn't leave

My mother kept quiet like quiet

was safe

I learned how to fold up

and hide in my face

Every knock hit my chest like

a fist through the wall

Every voice in the house made

me small, made me small

I wear the scar on the

door

I wear it still I wear

the scar on the door

And I know it will

Pull me back,

pull me back To the kid

I was before

I wear the scar on the

door

Now I flinch at a laugh

if it lands too hard

I keep old shoes by the

bed and a lock on my

heart

There's a bruise in my memory

that never went green

It still wakes up at midnight

and sits next to me

Every step in the dark tells

my bones to run

I was taught by the hurt

how to come undone

I wear the scar on the

door

I wear it still I wear

the scar on the door

And I know it will

Pull me back,

pull me back To the kid

I was before

I wear the scar on the

door

I'm learning my name

from the crack in the paint

I'm learning to stand

where the shadow once came If

I shake, let me shake If

I cry, let me cry I

won't call it a prison

if I'm still alive

I wear the scar on the

door

I wear it still I wear

the scar on the door

But I bend,

I heal

Pull me back,

pull me back I'm not that

kid anymore

I wear the scar on the

door