Walls of Pain

...

Dust on my boots, whiskey in my veins,

Smile on my face, but I'm drowning in chains.

Folks tip their hats, say I'm doing alright,

They don't hear the devil talking every night.

These old hands built fences, barns, and dreams,

But they can't stitch together what was torn at the seams.

There's a graveyard inside where no flowers grow,

Just ghosts I carry where the cold winds blow.

You can hide a bullet under an old black coat,

Hide a tear in the smoke from the fire you stoke...

I've got invisible scars carved deep in my soul,

Bleeding through the cracks where nobody goes.

Built these walls from heartache, stone after stone,

Now they're prison bars inside my own home.

Lord, I've screamed so loud but it never made a sound,

I'm a lonely outlaw six feet above the ground.

These wounds don't show, but they never heal...

The hardest battles are the ones nobody sees.

Mama said, "Son, keep your head held high."

Daddy taught me real men never cry.

So I buried every hurt beneath stubborn pride,

Now they're wolves that howl from the other side.

Every mile marker knows my name,

Every highway looks damn near the same.

Running from memories faster than the wind,

But you can't outride the war within.

If Heaven keeps count of the tears we hide,

Mine could flood every river running south tonight.

I've faced down bullets, fists, and fire,

But this silent pain never seems to tire.

These invisible scars still cut like knives,

Stealing little pieces of what's left of my life.

These walls I've built are too high to climb,

Mortared together with regret and time.

If the good Lord's listening through the pouring rain,

Tell me why some souls were born to carry this pain.

I'll keep riding till they lay me down beneath the pines...

Where maybe these invisible scars

Finally die.

One last match...

One last prayer...

One more mile...

And the silence is still there.

...