The Bough Bends

[Verse 1: Spoken] The whole thing Just a collection of fragments Bustling, vying, each holding its own constituents The overall It's a pragmatist's view Overall it's going well, it's going okay Some good ideas badly executed Best laid plans These irritating wounds we need to attend to Again and again The ecstasy of erasure Blank and clean For a moment, a chance To see what we could have been To see what we could have been Our reflections turn away And I want you so much my clothes hurt me She smiled this morning In a big fantastic smile And I was desperate for that happiness She leaned and kissed me And for the moment I didn't care about the rest [Verse 2: Sung (Spoken)] The fruit is hanging in November still (Ungiven) Didn't know the past then or how it would feel (Unyielding) A block of resin with a scorpion entombed (Impregnable) A stash of Semtex with the longest fuse (Crackling, hissing) Pages blackened with a section torn (Avoided and unforgotten) Pages blackened, yellow and brown (Unsent, useless) A drop of venom in the Burgundy (Delicious, irresistible) A knot of sadness in this jubilee (It's the only way down) It's the only way down (It's the only way down) It's the only way down (It's the only crossing) The bough bends, the fruit still hangs (Ungiven, untasted) I cannot offer my hand (Trembling and empty) I cannot offer my help (Distractions, distractions, distractions, distractions) [Verse 3: Spoken (Sung)] When we are broken No matter how hard we try To arrange and fool ourselves This unforgiveness Like a disease We work against its will The space between too-soon and too-late Did we miss it? Has it arrived yet? We're unsure Unforgiveness On a hometown morning Calls unanswered We arrived here naked and screaming Only needed to be held We only needed to be held (It's all in the lightning) This unforgiveness (Yellow light) This self-destruction, self-reconstruction, sexy and alluring (It's in the lightning, moonlight at the bottom) The clawing and the crumbling, the reconstruction The love and the loathing of this unforgiveness (It's in the lightning, gotta get out of sodden)