Small Red Boy

[Verse 1]

I found a small red boy inside my tummy

With three dollars in change and a Milky Way Lite

In my occasional pursuit to find something more meaningful

Than yet another word that rhymes with "die"

I cut him out and put him on my table

His shallow-breathing chest would fall and rise

His South of Heaven shirt was way too big for him

His horns were long and sharp

And then, he opened up those eyes that said:

[Chorus 1]

"I am, I am, I am, I am the truth"

[Verse 2]

I showered him with love and adulation

One day, he was just as tall as me

I showed him all the books that I was raised on

Your Madeleine L'Engles and D'Aulaires Mythology

And in a montage that could warm the heart of Hitler

I raised him up, so proud and motherly

I swore that I was glancing in a mirror

When in the language that I taught him

Oh God, he began to speak—he said:

[Chorus 2]

"I am, I am, I am, I am the truth

I am, I am, I am, I am the truth"

[Verse 3]

And his eyes became a beacon, an LCD projector

Broadcasting all my memories in a clear and vivid picture

His tongue became a staircase, his uvula the knocker

Of an ornate wooden door that led me straight into my future

His throat became a hallway with a thousand baby pictures

And I became forgiveness; I transformed into the closure that I lost

When I learned about the tragedy of all of us

I lost it when I learned about the tragedy of all of us

Incorrigible illness in the loved ones in and out of us

I lost it when I learned about the tragedy of all of us

I walked through the hallway to a room of only mirrors

Reflecting me in bondage, so I watched myself get freer

I let my horns grow longer; I observed my skin get redder

My soul became a hammer; I started to feel better

My hatred turned to pity; my resentment blossomed flowers

My bitter tasted candy; my misery was power

The truth in me grew brighter—my nature and my nurture

[Chorus 3]

No more shame, no more fear, no more dread!

I am, I am, I am, I am the truth