Pavement Bloom

[Verse 1]
(Spoken)
The line at the Hampden rec center smells like old floor wax and November.
We stand on the cracks in the asphalt, a silent row of overdue bills and secondhand coats.
They put us here at sunrise on a Tuesday, thinking the cold would send us home.
Your dad's old Orioles cap is pulled down low, but I saw that look in your eye.

[Chorus]
(Sung)
So we're gonna laugh like we own the whole damn block
Gonna smile like it's a weapon, 'til the clocks all stop

[Verse 2]
(Spoken)
A kid from Hopkins who’s never missed a meal, next to a grandma from the rowhomes on Falls Road.
We all got the same paper cuts from the mail-in forms they said they lost.
"This is our garden," you whisper, a ghost of breath in the air, "the good weeds taking over."
There's ballot dust on our thumbs, a pale grey promise we’re about to keep.

[Spoken Interlude]
(A different voice, filtered like a car radio, slightly distorted)
"...and turnout in the city is, well, it's unexpectedly high. Polls will remain open for anyone currently in line..."

[Chorus]
(Sung)
So we're gonna laugh like we own the whole damn block
Gonna smile like it's a weapon, 'til the clocks all stop

[Bridge]
They drew the lines on the map to keep us in our pots
But roots run under pavement, connecting all the empty lots

[Chorus]
(Sung, with more intensity)
Yeah, we're gonna laugh like we own the whole damn block!
Gonna smile like it's a weapon, like it's all we've got!

[Outro]
(Spoken, almost a whisper)
Look at us. Look at us bloom.