Battle Cries

I’m at the brink, don’t laugh
At the winks I’ve masked
Who’ll save you when you fall?

The wrinkles and bricks that we’re left with at last
And drink will fix all those questions unasked
Who died? And made you king of it all

Who wins this war? You’ve a knack
For applause from the back of the stalls but you lack
The conviction to look at me straight and say yes

Now the wind is so warm on the back of my neck
As I walk with the Sun hand in hand from the wreck
Some fictions we took to mean fate believe me I know

Don’t be uncouth, be a man
Don’t lie with your eyes, you know I despise that look
You’re home. For God’s sake I’m

Tell the truth to me love, does my hair look as nice
As it did when you once tied it up in your eyes?
Look at me as you say this, don’t look at your phone

Done with your dreams, they won’t last
Thirty winters will pass, you’ll look back
At the woman fifty-year-old you will be proud to have known

‘Cause that Sun that beams down as my hands touch the grass
After summers of fasting I feel hunger at last
For the person fifteen-year-old me would be proud to have known

‘Cause these plates they smash like waves
Place your smile in mine
And the wine stains hide the tears
Why stay? Hide the

But that breathing you hear, don’t mistake it for sighs
Don’t you realize, they’re just battle cries dear
And these lines aren’t wrinkles, dear heart
Hardly knew the words
They’re just dollops of paint on a new work of art
I’m dolled up, love don’t I deserve to just

And as I walk away I know I’ve been through the wars
But that creaking you hear in my bones is not pain, it’s applause

Come on love, please don’t start
Sing your notes, play your part
Then we’ll leave. We were gods

With you, I could summon the gods and the stars
Watch them dance out the plays that we wrote from the heart
And we’d laugh at the ghosts of our fears. We were kids

‘Come at me your blaggards you’d yell
From the back of the gallery
Say goodbye. I am not

‘Come at me, you blaggards’, you’d yell from the banks
Wielding words against make-believe wizards and tanks
And by God love, believe me, I wanted to play too, I did

A drunkard, A daughter, A preacher, God knows how you
You dragged us both into the darkness that grows
Oh dear God
I won’t

But we sunk into water no creature can know
You dragged me along to watch all your shows
Our devils broke rank, and out of the depths came an army

Leave without a fight
I won’t let you turn our last night into this
I’m going to binge-watch a box set, drink wine, reminisce
This isn’t a break-up, dear heart, it’s a season finale

‘Cause these plates they smash like waves
Place your smile in mine
And the wine stains hide the tears
Why stay? Hide the

But that breathing you hear, don’t mistake it for sighs
Don’t you realize, they’re just battle cries dear
And these lines aren’t wrinkles, dear heart
Hardly knew the words
They’re just dollops of paint on a new work of art
I’m dolled up, love don’t I deserve to just

And as I walk away I know I’ve been through the wars
But that creaking you hear in my bones is not pain, it’s applause

It’s not pain, it’s applause

All it took to unearth in the dust and the dirt
Some release or respite from the heat and the hurt
Was taking the time now and then to ask how I am

And now at the end, at the end of all things
I’m not going to scream, beat my chest at the wind
I’m doing fine