Sanctuary

I know what they did to you.

I know because they did it to me first.

But I survived the autopsy.

And now I know how to stop the bleeding.

*[Verse 1]*

Walked through hell with gasoline shoes, learned to love the burn

Every scar's a lesson that I'll never have to learn again

They carved me hollow, left me gutted on the bathroom floor

But I stitched myself back piece by piece, now I know what healing's for

You come to me with shattered ribs, lungs collapsed from holding breath

Afraid to exhale honesty, terrified of little death

But I've been baptized in that drowning, held my breath until it passed

Now I breathe for both of us when your oxygen won't last

*[Pre-Chorus]*

I've walked barefoot through the glass you're standing on

Felt every fragment pierce until the pain was gone

Now my feet are leather-tough from roads you've never seen

I can carry what you carry, know exactly what you mean

*[Chorus]*

Lay your weapons down, soldier, the war is finally done

I've cleared the minefield step by step, now watch me as I run

Through territory that would kill you, but can't touch me anymore

I'm the ceasefire you've been praying for, peace treaty signed in scars

No more sleeping with one eye open, no more flinching at the sound

I'm the sanctuary you forgot existed, holy ground on cursed ground

Rest your bones against my backbone, let me hold what you can't hold

I'm not fragile like they told you - I'm titanium wrapped in gold

*[Verse 2]*

My father taught me how to bleed but never how to heal the wound

Left me drowning in his silence, choking on his borrowed gloom

But I learned to speak the language that he never knew existed

Found my voice beneath the rubble where his love should have persisted

So when you whisper in the darkness all the ways they let you down

I don't flinch or try to fix you, just sit solid, hold the ground

'Cause I know that sacred anger, know the weight of being wronged

But I also know the other side - where broken becomes strong

*[Bridge - Voice drops to almost whisper, raw and close]*

I won't lie and say it's easy, won't pretend the road ain't long

But I've walked this path already, know the words to this old song

Every demon that you're wrestling, I've already pinned to ground

Every ghost that keeps you sleepless, I have silenced with this sound

You are worthy of protection

You deserve to feel secure

All that poison they injected - there's an antidote for sure

*[Final Chorus - Building to emotional peak]*

Lay your weapons down, soldier, the war is finally done

I've cleared the minefield step by step, now watch me as I run

Through territory that would kill you, but can't touch me anymore

I'm the ceasefire you've been praying for, peace treaty signed in scars

No more sleeping with one eye open, no more flinching at the sound

I'm the sanctuary you forgot existed,

So come home

You're safe with me.....