Fear of Being Heard

I felt the spark, yeah, I felt the rush But when I tried to speak, my throat filled

With dust I had a voice in my chest that I buried alive

Too scared it would tremble, too scared it wouldn't survive

Every melody I loved sat locked in my bones But I swallowed every note before it reached

My own tones Did it matter if the fire was burning me through

The fear of being heard was louder than what I could do

Some kids sang loud like the world was their stage

But I froze in the doorway like a bird in a cage

Not because I had nothing, but because I had too much

And the world had taught me that my voice was too rough

So I whispered my dreams into empty rooms Hoping maybe one day they'd all grow to fumes

But silence can choke you just as much as a scream

And I was halfway dying inside my own dream The fear wasn't just noise, it was a chain

Made of doubt The echo of judgment, I grew up around

Every time I inhaled, I felt the pressure return

The shame, the memories, the lessons that burned

I wasn't quiet by nature, I was quiet by force

Shaped by the world to abandon my course But the more I resisted, the more it hurt

Like the voice in my chest was clawing through dirt

And deep in that struggle, one truth was clear I wasn't afraid of singing, I was afraid

I was afraid

They might

Hear