Lyrics

# Iron Chains (Sickle Cell Anthem)

## Verse 1
Red cells twisted, bent like Tetsuya's sword
Pain crisis hitting like a Final Flash, I'm floored
Politicians talking health care like NPCs
Their promises more filler than a Bleach series
Every morning swallowing pills like Senzu beans
While they debate if my life's worth the means
Hemoglobin S got me locked in chains like Eren
Invisible disease but like Stands, I'm still bearing

## Chorus
Iron chains in my blood
Crimson rivers run cold
System fails us again
Like the end of Evangelion told
Iron chains in my blood
Like a Phoenix we still grow
Sick of cell after cell
Breaking down as they flow

## Verse 2
Diagnosis at four, mama cried like Deku's mom
Now I'm fighting through the fog like I'm in Silent Hill's calm
ER visits met with doubt like I'm some Impostor
"Are you just here seeking drugs?" - that's their posture
Rare disease with a Black face like Miles Morales
Means my pain gets dismissed faster than canceled shows
Medicare cuts while pharma profits like Umbrella Corp
My treatment's just a side quest they choose to ignore

## Bridge
Born with genetic fate coded like the Matrix
Society adds weight like Goku's training apparatus
Discrimination double-fold - feeling like an X-Men outcast
On the frontlines of a battle with no respawn, no restart

## Verse 3
Despite it all, my spirit like Luffy's will of D
Through pain and fatigue, new pathways like Naruto, believe it, see?
Community strong like the Avengers assembled
Our voices amplified - hear how our chakra trembled
Advocating through art like Banksy when my strength allows
Educating the ignorant, like Kakashi showing them how
Life with sickle cell is a boss fight on hardcore mode
Against disease and systems that don't get the episode

## Outro
Iron chains can't hold down what's meant to Titan-shift
Through crisis after crisis, still I survive the rift
In this political game where lives are like Squid Game pawns
We forge our own weapons from what makes us Saiyan strong