Knife In The Knee

Step down.
There it is.
Right on time.
Knife in the knee.
Still real.
Still here.
Knife in the knee
when I hit that stair.
White flash up
through the bone right there.
Doctors looked.
X ray clean.
But I feel that steel
in the hinge
of the machine.
Left leg talks
before I do.
Old pain knocks
and the whole world true.
Sky turns gray.
Joint turns mean.
Rain comes early
when the knee starts screaming.
Some men got a watch.
Some men got a phone.
I got one bad leg
that keeps time
on its own.
Tick in the tendon.
Click in the stair.
Blade in the bend
like it lives in there.
Lives in there.
Lives in there.
Knife in the knee.
Tick,
tick,
tick.
Pain cuts through
when the mind gets thick.
Knife in the knee.
Still walks clean.
That hurt in my leg
means I'm still in me.
Every step a payment.
Every stair a bill.
I hate that pain.
But I love
that it's real.
Knife in the knee.
Tick,
tick,
tick.
Body tells truth
when the mirror talks slick.
Mirror don't limp.
Mirror don't bleed.
Mirror got teeth
but it don't got knees.
Mirror floats clean.
Mirror grins free.
That's how I know
that thing ain't me.
Me,
I take stairs
one blade at a time.
Pain in the joint
is an honest rhyme.
It don't call me good.
It don't call me bad.
It just counts the cost
of the life
that I had.
That's why I trust it.
That's why I breathe.
That's why I press down
and test both feet.
Real beats fake.
Ache beats fear.
Pain gets loud
and the ghosts disappear.
Ghosts disappear.
Still right here.
Knife in the knee.
Tick,
tick,
tick.
Pain cuts through
when the mind gets thick.
Knife in the knee.
Still walks clean.
That hurt in my leg
means I'm still in me.
Every step a payment.
Every stair a bill.
I hate that pain.
But I love
that it's real.
Knife in the knee.
Tick,
tick,
tick.
Body tells truth
when the mirror talks slick.
Pull it out,
they say.
Make it stop.
But if it stops talking,
I lose the clock.
I don't love damage.
I don't love scars.
I love when the pain
pulls me back
from the dark.
One step.
One breath.
One spark.
Still flesh.
Still blood.
Still heart.
Step down.
Tick.
Still real.
Tick.
Bad knee.
Good proof.
Old pain.
Hard truth.
Step down.
Tick.
Still here.
Tick.
Knife in the knee.
Mind stays clear.
Knife in the knee.
Tick,
tick,
tick.
Pain cuts through
when the mind gets thick.
Knife in the knee.
Still walks clean.
That hurt in my leg
means I'm still in me.
Every step a payment.
Every stair a bill.
I hate that pain.
But I love
that it's real.
Knife in the knee.
Tick,
tick,
tick.
Body tells truth
when the mirror talks slick.
Knife in the knee.
Still walks clean.
Ache beats ghost
when the head gets mean.
Step down.
Tick.
Still counting.
Still hurting.
Still real.
Still here.