Under a concrete sky

Count the floors between me and the light

Rain drills holes in a steel-ribbed night

Grey rain gnaws on the high-rise bones

Sodium halos hum in monotone

I've learned the language of elevator sighs

Bootsteps echo under low-hung skies

There's a seam in the ceiling, a thin bright vein

Crawling down the wall, spelling out my name

Under a concrete sky, I still rise

Pressing the weight till it turns to light

Steel in my lungs, dust in my eyes

Under a concrete sky, I still rise

Keep the head up, breathe and drive

No ceiling high enough tonight

Rebar ribs in a chest of stone

Cracked-glass mornings, walking it alone

I cut my fear on the handrail's edge

Left it on the steps like a broken pledge

Hear the hum of the city re-tune my spine

Little bands of daylight stitching up the line

Under a concrete sky, I still rise

Pressing the weight till it turns to light

Steel in my lungs, dust in my eyes

Under a concrete sky, I still rise

Concrete

Sky

Old pipes cry

Count it in, hold the line

Grind the pressure into drive

Make the dead weight come alive

Blueprints tried to box my breath

I learned the span instead of the stress

If morning comes through seams of gray

I'll take the lift, I'll take the blaze

Under a concrete sky, I still rise

Pressing the weight till it turns to light

Steel in my lungs, dust in my eyes

Under a concrete sky, I still rise

One step more, one breath wide

Under a concrete sky, I still rise