Only Way Out

# ONLY WAY OUT
Yeahhh.
Bedroom dark.
Phone bright.
Same ceiling.
Same fight.
No money.
No plan.
No ride.
No way.
Only way out.
they say.
Only way out is a
name on a line.
Only way out is
a uniform sign.
Only way out
when the town stay small.
Only way out
when you got no call.
Mama said stay.
Pops said run.
School said wait.
Street said none.
Only way out
when the mind get loud.
Only way out is
to leave this ground.
He seventeen
with a thirty year face.
Same old hoodie,
same old place.
Bills on the table,
mold in the wall.
Dreams too big
for a room
that small.
He don't talk much,
he just scroll.
Watch rich kids smile
like the world got soul.
Teachers say try,
but the bus don't come.
Friends get high just
to feel less numb.
Mirror got questions
he can't outrun.
Jaw stay tight
like a loaded gun.
Not dangerous yet,
just cornered and tired.
Cold little heart
with the wires on fire.
Everybody saying be patient,
be strong.
But patient don't feed you
when the rent gone wrong.
Strong don't fix what
the block took out.
So he starts thinking war
might be the route.
Only way out is a
name on a line.
Only way out is
a uniform sign.
Only way out
when the town stay small.
Only way out
when you got no call.
Mama said stay.
Pops said run.
School said wait.
Street said none.
Only way out
when the mind get loud.
Only way out is
to leave this ground.
Recruiter talk clean,
voice smooth as glass.
New life,
new skill,
put the old
in the past.
Says discipline,
says brotherhood,
Says you'll be more than
they thought you could.
And he wants that.
God,
he wants that.
Wants one door
where the dark turns back.
Wants one path
that don't laugh
in his face.
Wants one reason to leave
that place.
But deep down,
something don't sit right.
Why poor boys bleed
when rich men fight.
Why the same ones trapped
with no way through
Get handed a flag
and a rifle too.
He ain't scared of dying,
that's what scares him most.
He already feels
like a half made ghost.
If the choice is rot
or be used
by the state,
He signs his name
with a hand
full of hate.
No hero music.
No golden light.
Just a kid too tired
to survive one more night.
No clean answer.
No easy truth.
Just a broken door
they sell to youth.
Only way out is a
name on a line.
Only way out is
a uniform sign.
Only way out
when the town stay small.
Only way out
when you got no call.
Mama said stay.
Pops said run.
School said wait.
Street said none.
Only way out
when the mind get loud.
Only way out is
to leave this ground.
Fast forward now,
boots on dirt.
Same old pain in
a brand new shirt.
Different walls,
same trapped chest.
Different orders,
same no rest.
He learns real quick
that escape ain't free.
Some cages come with identity.
Some wounds don't show till
the night gets still.
Some boys leave home
and come back ill.
He still remembers
that bedroom air.
The dirty fan
and the broken chair.
How he begged the world
for another route,
But every road said not
for you out loud.
Now he looks at kids
with that same dead stare.
Same clenched jaw,
same empty glare.
Wants to say don't go,
but he knows that pain
when your whole
damn life feels
like a locked up chain.
Only way out shouldn't
be a war.
Only way out should be
more than a door.
Only way out shouldn't
cost your soul.
Only way out shouldn't
swallow you whole.
Mama said stay.
Pops said run.
School said wait.
Street said none.
Only way out
when the mind get loud.
But there's gotta be more
than leaving this ground.
Yeahhh.
Bedroom dark.
Phone bright.
Same ceiling.
Same fight.
He signed his name.
They called it choice.
But nobody heard
the kid in his voice.