2. The Mirror Hissed First
I'm late to my own reflection.
Glass shows what I won't let go.
The hiss in the frame is an echo.
Mirror won't look away, it copies my move.
Strike at myself, it shows the proof.
Snake strikes — but the snake is me.
The mirror hissed first.
[VERSE 1]
I swallow the sting. I build a wall.
I hiss at the face that carried it all.
Grew in glass with a voice too mean.
Snake in the frame where the kid should be.
Pain in the pane is pain I made, self-attack in action.
The fangs return again.
Curse at my body. Venom out.
Cringe at my face. Curl in doubt.
The hiss that I fear is a thought I rehearsed.
Coil is a teacher; it squeezes to show.
Whatever I bury will surface and grow.
If I push the mirror, it pushes back.
If I pick my skin, it shows the crack.
[PRE-CHORUS]
The hiss says I'm hurting, I need to be heard.
Guard of the wound — I see my own fear.
The hiss says I'm angry — the heat is sincere.
I hold what I hold. The snake stays near.
It says: "Run all you want. I'll still be here."
[CHORUS]
Peel my skin, drop the shape.
I wait. I watch who stays.
The mirror hissed first. I Strike.
Fear shows its face.
I coil away from the old embrace.
The mirror hissed first.
[VERSE 2]
I left myself in the mirror again;
I didn't know snake was my friend.
Every ache is a whisper. I lean in.
Rattle in glass where secrets leak.
It watches me shed.
I cling to skin.
Split the habit from the hand that holds it.
The coil tightens with my grip.
Strike at the glass until the feeling shifts.
The weight of a parent's word — too loud for a child to be heard.
I hate the sting but I need the bite.
I force myself to face what I hide from light.
Every face I dropped still stares back.
When I hiss the mirror reacts.
The squeeze becomes a lesson in loosening.
Snake hisses back so the child will know:
This sound is mine. I can let it go.
[PRE-CHORUS]
The hiss says I'm hurting, I need to be heard.
Guard of the wound — I see my own fear.
The hiss says I'm angry — the heat is sincere.
I hold what I hold. The snake stays near.
It says: "Run all you want. I'll still be here."
[CHORUS]
Peel my skin, drop the shape.
I wait. I watch who stays.
The mirror hissed first. I Strike.
Fear shows its face.
I coil away from the old embrace.
The mirror hissed first.
[BRIDGE]
The snake was never the enemy.
What if the squeeze was just a signal to soften?
I rest against the glass. It holds me.
The tension leaves. I learn to hold myself.
[CHORUS]
Peel my skin, drop the shape.
I wait. I watch who stays.
The mirror hissed first. I Strike.
Fear shows its face.
I coil away from the old embrace.
The mirror hissed first.
[OUTRO]
When I befriend the reflection, well being lands.
The mirror hissed first.
