My Hymn

They cheer for the glitter but not for the bruise
They love the shine but not the truth I lose
I’m a jester in chains
They don’t see the rust
My smile’s the curtain
My tears are the dust
They cheer for my sunshine but won't stand  my rain
I write their names in lines of gold
my own story’s left untold

They like when I entertain
Not when I cry inside
They take the songs I bleed
never hear the tide
I sing for him
For her
For them
For you
they don't want my hymn
They don't want my view

They crave the highs
The verses that ignite
But miss the lows I bury deep in night
They want the colors
Not the cracks they find
They love the art
 they don't love the mind

I craft their world
A vivid scene
 my own voice stays in between
 they don't want my hymn
They don't want my view 
They like the sparkle but not the stone
The smile that hides the broken bone
I’m the mirror they won’t look through
Writing stories for them
But not my truth

A write and sing for him
For her
For them.for you
But my own voice fades away


I’m the echo of their desires
Burning bright
But not my fires
A ghost with a golden tongue
Writing words where I don’t belong

Writing  songs for them
For he for him 
For she for you
But never one that sets me free

 they don’t want my hymn 
They like when I entertain
Can’t taste the salt in the smile I fake
Laugh at the line
Then they leave my name
On the floor with the confetti and the paper plates
They clap for the jokes I make
Don’t see the nights that I stay awake
Bleeding out ink for their heartache
While my own heart goes to waste

They like the show
Not the soul
Love the shine
Not the toll
They want my pen for them
Him
Her an you
But never write back when it’s my turn

they don’t wanna hear my hymn
They don’t wanna hear my hymn

They pass me their broken glass
“Turn this into a story that makes us laugh”
I turn my lungs into lanterns for their path
Still walk home alone when the crowd thins out
Every verse
Every line I give
Feels like renting out the life I live
They get healed while I stay split
Their applause just covers what they never fix


What if I stand here
Empty hands
No costume
Just who I am
Would you stay if the mask fell off if I gave it all up put poet to sleep and woke up Paul Anthony 
If the spotlight cut and the room went soft would they'd stand in my sunshine while I dance in  the rain ,if it's for them or theirs they sing along if its me singing about my pain they say O' Boy Here we go again,they don't want to hear my hymn if the words I'm writing an  singing isn't for them

Raw hard dirty south, rap, gritty beats with heavy 808s and a haunting piano riff, hard-hitting, dirty south rap, male