I'm Elastic

Another sunrise, another skin
The quiet hum before the spin begins
I know the shape of what I'll wear today
The way light bends when I look away

There's a stillness here, before the flood
Before the noise becomes my blood
I see it coming, the tidal wave
The version of me that I've been trained to save

Breathe.

The stage is set, the curtain's thin
I know exactly how this thing begins

[Look at me]

I'm elastic, I'm elastic
Stretch the truth until it's plastic
Mirror, mirror, what's fantastic
Every compliment's a habit I've been chasing
God complex with paper skin,
Applause is oxygen I'm suffocating in
Crown too heavy, but I wear the grin
Golden on the outside, hollow within
Stage lights burning through my chest,
Can’t tell my best from all the rest
And the theater of this gorgeous mess
I'm the hero, I'm the guest,
I'm the storm that needs no rest
Performing miracles while I decompress
Then mess up something I do best

So I laugh it off, I double down, I'm FINE-
Rewrite history in real-time, every single line
Talk faster, think faster, can't let them see
The fractures in the fantasy, the fiction that is me
I'm BRILLIANT, I'm UNSTOPPABLE, I'm
INVINCIBLE, INEVITABLE, watch me climb
Higher, brighter, tighter, wired
Every criticism just fuels the fire
I'm a MASTERPIECE, a LEGACY in motion
Every doubt's just devotion to the notion
That I'm CHOSEN, I'm GOLDEN, I'm the exception to the rule
I've got plans and backup plans, I'm nobody's fool
Spinning plates, juggling fates, I can do it all at once
Watch me DANCE, watch me SOAR, call it confidence or

Wait—what was I—doesn't matter, I'm on track
Thoughts are racing, heart is pacing, no looking back
I'm ELECTRIC, PROPHETIC, they'll write books about this
About ME, about how I turned the whole world around with just-

[just-]

Nothing.
Just an echo in an empty room.
Just a stranger in the mirror asking "who?"
Just the silence after all that noise.
Just the emptiness behind the poise.

[inhale]

But wait-

[snap back, instant]

I'm good, I'm great, I'm golden again
Dust off the crown, adjust the grin
Can't stay down when there's a show to win
The fall? What fall? That wasn't me,
That was just a moment of.. clarity?

No, exhaustion. No, a test.
And I passed it, obviously, I'm the best
At recovering, at spinning straw to gold
At making every breakdown look controlled

I'm elastic, I'm elastic
Stretch the truth until it's plastic
I see the strings, I feel the seams
But God, I'm good at this
Too good to stop
Too far gone to drop the act

I'm elastic