i could complain about the oscar snubbery
i could complain that they played this in the wrong aspect ratio

but instead, i’ll tell you a story

Once upon a third-grade obsession
Maps in my head like a quiet confession
Didn’t want toys, didn’t want a game
Just iron bars and a notorious name

Spring break came, I followed the call
Didn’t tell anyone—didn’t think at all
Crossed a line I couldn’t explain
Just me and a place that lived in my brain

Headphones on, voice in my ear
“Step this way,” it pulled me near
Every hallway felt preordained
Like I’d already learned the maze

Ten years old, no looking back
On a self-guided, one-way track
No one knew where I had been
No one knew the state I was in

Thought I was gone, thought the worst was true
But I was just walking a story through
Every locked door, every cell I passed
Felt like something I had to gras

Alcatraz Island in a silver haze
Cold wind cutting through the bay
City far like a life I missed
But I didn’t feel alone in it

Somewhere else, panic in the air
Phone calls, voices, legal care
They said “kidnapped,” fear took hold
But I was right where I chose to go

Didn’t feel lost, didn’t feel afraid
Every step felt already made
A story bigger than what they knew
And I was just moving through

Ten years old, no looking back
On a self-guided, one-way track
No one knew where I had been
No one knew the state I was in

Thought I was gone, thought the worst was true
But I was just walking a story through
Every locked door, every cell I passed
Felt like something I had to grasp

Not taken
Not stolen
Just following a voice that opened
A door I couldn’t close

Alas, no crime, no mystery solved
Just a kid in a story, fully involved
Headphones on, drifting through
A prison tour that felt like truth