I learned the price before I learned the prayer,
Cold air, brass glare — I was already there.
Sirens in the distance, smoke in the seam,
I was young, but the dark already knew me.

Streetlamp doctrine on a damp concrete page,
Calm face, dark gaze, old soul in a young age.
I don't sell pain with a gold-tooth grin,
I just walk in clean and let the room cave in.
Bills in the Bible, blood on the brief,
Mercy ain't mercy if it come too cheap.
I kept my mouth neat, my ledger ugly,
Rain on the wool coat — still nothing above me.
Low talk, slow step, pressure in the jaw,
I learned real quick what the silence was for.
Not every scar show, not every debt speaks,
Some truths sit still and still cut deep.

No shortcuts, no soft light,
No halo for a half-right life.
I know what it costs when the daylight ends,
Grace got a fee and it cashes in.

No cheap salvation, no thin white lie,
You pay in the dark for the way you shine.
No cheap salvation, I know that line,
No cheap salvation — every blessing got a spine.

I wore the weight till it fit like skin,
Learned not every loss means you didn't win.
I keep my peace where the noise can't climb,
No cheap salvation... that's a costly kind.

I seen gold-plated hope with a rusted frame,
Big chain, empty veins, still froze in shame.
I don't talk loud, I let the floor lean in,
Knife-edge calm with a courthouse grin.
Loose lips sink ships, but still I float,
Heavy with the truth in a tailored coat.
Whole city twitch when the sirens sing,
I keep my pulse low and my vowels clean.
No fake redemption in a fresh pressed fit,
I know clean hands don't mean innocent.
So I move exact, no wasted breath,
Like a man made peace with a certain depth.

And I still don't ask for the price to drop,
Still don't kneel just to look more soft.
If it came to me, it came through fire,
Not every blessing comes dressed in white.

Seen men chase heaven through a mirrored haze,
All shine, no center, all mouth, no grace.
I took the long road with the ash on the sleeve,
Let the hard nights carve what the crowd couldn't teach.
Some doors stayed shut and I thanked 'em later,
Some wounds cut clean and made me straighter.
I got my faith from surviving the blow,
From keeping my shape when the whole room broke.
Black coffee dawns and debt-card moons,
Empty train platforms, backseat truths.
I built this calm from a chipped-up frame,
From learning not every prayer needs a name.
So when I say peace, I don't mean soft,
I mean I carried the crossbeam after the cross.
I mean I stood there when the easy left,
And still found breath in the weight I kept.

If heaven got a door, it don't swing for free,
If peace got a room, there's a key on me.
I bled for the polish, I paid for the poise,
Quiet men survive what destroys the noise.
No silver rain, no sudden release,
Just a hard-won stillness that resembles peace.
I don't need applause for the way I healed,
I just need the truth to stay unrepealed.

No cheap salvation, no thin white lie,
You pay in the dark for the way you shine.
No cheap salvation, I wear that fine,
No cheap salvation — I made my peace with the price.
No cheap salvation, no borrowed light,
I stood in the fire and came back precise.
No cheap salvation, let that ring right,
No cheap salvation — every blessing got a spine.

No choir lift, no silver dove,
Just earned calm... and enough is enough.
Morning can judge, I ain't gonna hide,
I already made peace with the cost of my life.
No cheap salvation.