The Box Quit First

The box quit first
Box quit first
I did not break

Cardboard box split open
Right there in the parking lot
My mug rolled under someone's car
My badge found a puddle spot

Fifteen years in a copy paper box
A security guard held out
He couldn't meet my eyes
And I couldn't make a sound

Cheap heels
An old photo
A little desk plant in the rain
I was down there on my knees
Trying not to feel the shame

For a second I was the box
Torn wide
Losing shape
Then I laughed through all that thunder

Even the box quit
Before me today

I picked my name up first
Then I picked up my pride
Put both hands on the wheel
And let the storm ride

The box quit first
I didn't break
Didn't break
I shook
I didn't fall
Didn't fall

You can see where the pressure
Hit the glass
But I'm still standing tall

Box quit first
Didn't break
I shook
Didn't fall

Let the thunder learn my name
Still standing tall
Standing tall

Next morning
Same blazer
Still wrinkled from the rain
Walked into that interview
With yesterday on my sleeve

Shook the hand
Took the chair
Laid my story flat
What happened at your last job
I got up
Next question

Gas station mirror
Cold light on my face
I saw tired
I saw scared
But I did not see erased

I didn't call the doubters
Didn't beg the past to change
Just left a voice note for myself
Girl breathe
This won't last

Played it back at the red light
Let the wipers keep the time
Watched the storm run out of rain
Before it ran me out of mine

Some things bend to carry weight
Some trees bend to stay
The pressure didn't end me
The box quit first before I did

The box quit first
I didn't break
Didn't break
I shook
I didn't fall
Didn't fall

You can see where the pressure
Hit the glass
But I'm still standing tall

So bend me
Go on bend me
I already know the sound
It's the creak before the standing
It's the spring before the bound

It's the green wood in the windstorm
That the winter can't cut down
Say my name in the thunder
Say it loud
Say it plain

The woman that you wrote off
Is out here in the rain

Everybody bent but breathing
That's me
Everybody shook but standing
That's me

You can hammer on the metal
That's just how you make a blade
A blade

Six months down the road
New desk
New door
Same flattened box
Inside the closet floor

I keep it like a photograph
Of hitting the ground
Proof the storm came for my knees
And never got me down

The box quit first
I didn't break
Didn't break
I shook
I didn't fall
Didn't fall

You can see where the pressure
Hit the glass
But I'm still standing tall
Standing tall

Box quit first
Didn't break
I shook
Didn't fall

Let the thunder say my name

The box quit first
I kept moving
Same two hands
New horizon

The box quit first
I did not break