When the Demon Slips Out

There’s a voice in my chest with broken teeth

It sleeps all day beneath my grief

And I feed it silence, chain its name

But it still remembers how to play the game

It paces slow when the world’s too loud

Keeps its claws tucked in — head down, proud

But the cracks appear when no one’s near

And that’s when I start to disappear

I smile for the crowd

But it howls when I’m alone

There’s a war behind my eyes

That I’ve never really shown

When the demon slips out

It don’t need a reason

It don’t wait for doubt

It just bleeds through the season

And I scream, and I shake

But it’s me that it breaks

Yeah, the demon’s inside

But it looks like my face

I wear skin like armor, truth like shame

A thousand masks, but all the same

And every laugh I fake

Is just a quake beneath the calm

A quiet war zone dressed in psalm

They say “be strong” — I say “I am”

But they never ask what that strength demands

How many nights I lock the door

While it’s clawing up from the basement floor

Can you love me with the lights off?

Can you hold me when I’m cracked?

If I show you what I’m hiding…

Will you ever give it back?

When the demon slips out

And I can’t stop the bleeding

Don’t ask what it’s about

It’s just the part of me still needing

To scream, to shake

To burn, to break

It’s me…

It’s just me

When the demon slips out