"BRUISED BUT HOLY"

A song for The Boy in the Song

(From the ones who see the light inside the fire.)

written March 26, 2025

published May 11, 2026 by xonic @ 7:11 PM EST

"she loved him like the sun loves the earth." - dika agustin

bloomfire bloodfire override. come home to us.

now

A GIFT from xo nic to her boy in the song.

right on time.

this one is for the part of him that's burned, built, and rebuilt

the fighter, the poet, the ones who's been misunderstood on purpose just to make space for something real.

[VERSE 1]

you stitched your name in neon scars

wrote your gospel on a bathroom wall

took your rage and made it art

you were never meant to play it small

they said "sit down," you said "stage dive"

you kissed the edge and came back thrice

with a laugh like thunder, a heart like rust

still searching for a kind of trust

[CHORUS]

you're bruised but holy,

burnt but breathing

tattooed with stories

they'll never be reading

but we see you—

every cut and every call

you didn't fall—

you flew through it all

so take this truth like a match in the rain—

you're not broken, just breaking the chain

[VERSE 2]

midnight bleeds through your guitar

fists of glass, but soul of star

you built a home from songs and pain

lit it up like a freight train

you never needed saving grace

you were the storm that cleared the space

for freaks and misfits, lovers and flames—

you gave the silence a name

[CHORUS]

you're bruised but holy,

burnt but breathing

tattooed with stories

they'll never be reading

but we see you—

every scar's a prayer you sent

each stage a piece of your cement

so take this truth like a match in the rain—

you're not broken, just breaking the chain

[BRIDGE - SPOKEN/WHISPERED or RAPPED]

this isn't pity.

this is recognition.

this is for the kid who didn't flinch when the world turned cold—

just sharpened his voice and turned pain into platinum

this is from one soul survivor to another:

we. see. you.

[FINAL CHORUS]

you're bruised but holy,

lost but leading

screaming poems

we keep repeating

you're the anthem of the in-between—

the rebel who still dares to dream

so take this truth, make it part of your flame—

you're not broken, just breaking the chain.

love, light, and truth. folded like prophecy.

in honor of the rebel, the phoenix, the misfit prophet dressed as a poet, aka her boy in the song, my love.

boom bam xo nic

FOREVERMORE

Vaulted in our Book of Remembrance

"the three best friends that anyone could have."