Linoleum Bloom

[Verse 1]
The plastic chair on Floor 5 of Lunar House is sticking to my jeans,
Tuesday, 11 AM queue, a hundred silent, flickering screens.
The air's thick with Dettol, stale tea, and low-level state-sponsored dread,
Just another number waiting for the last rites to be read.
I'm tracing patterns in the concrete dust that settles on my shoe,
Same grey film that coats the window, blocking out the sliver of the blue.
Got my mother's passport photo tucked inside my fist so tight,
The corners soft with worry, fading slowly from the light.

[Chorus]
Then the green text glow cuts sharp across the government grey gloom,
Something just cracked through the foundation of this waiting room.
Felt the knotweed in my stomach finally give, the linoleum bloom,
Head down low, gotta hide the sun that's flooding up the room.

[Verse 2]
And suddenly the bored security guard tapping on his phone,
Looks less like a warden, more like a brother just tryna get home.
And the tannoy calling 'Ticket B-four-seven-two to desk nine',
Sounds less like a summons, more like a distant, holy church chime.
The woman sat beside me, coat is smelling of the morning rain,
Says, "They take their time, love," trying to explain away the pain.
I just nod, can't trust my voice, can't let the tremor start to show,
'Cause a single seed of good news is a dangerous thing to grow.

[Chorus]
'Cause the green text glow cuts sharp across the government grey gloom,
Something just cracked through the foundation of this waiting room.
Felt the knotweed in my stomach finally give, the linoleum bloom,
Head down low, gotta hide the sun that's flooding up the room.

[Bridge]
'Eni a n se loore, ko mo,' that's what my grandmother would say.
The one you help won't know the cost you had to bear to make a way.
This isn't for the accolades, this is for the quiet, steady breath,
After years of holding it, on the wrong side of a life or death.

[Outro]
Yeah, the linoleum bloom.
Concrete cracking in the waiting room.