The Surgeon and the Scientist

Don't call this an art project
This is science, this is progress
And don't pretend these are heartfelt words
We are children dressed as surgeons but disturbed by the sight of our scars
And now we carry scalpels to trace the scarring
Resting somewhere on the line between my house, your heart and into your home
Where you lay sleeping like a ceiling fan in winter
Gently turning as the wind reaches its fingers through the window
Just to hold you, like I held you
Pressed like a rose between my fingers
Or like stones I keep in pockets meant to weigh me underwater
Meant to keep me underwater
Now meant to keep me underwater
These scars will fade away but never disappear, my dear
We'll raise our fists like lightning to rods to God
And if he strikes us down
Then he strikes us down
But first, let him hear us speak
We are like the legacy of thunderstorms we watched and swore in doorways
We would never be the same again
I can feel you healing and I hate it
Like a harpist without hands
You only bang the strings you used to love to touch so much
To hear the dissonance drain violently into the air and then dissolve
Like all the songs I sang but never once could make you smile
My God, I would kill to make you smile
My God, I would kill to make you smile
Oh, my God, I would kill to make you smile
My God, I would kill to make you smile
My God, I would kill to make you smile, smile, smile
And reach out to my hands, soft and frail
To make good on the love that you swear still exists and still thrives
Though we've buried our bodies in blood and old lies
Like, "I'm fine" and "you look so much better than him"
But don't trust the surgeon with your heart
She's drunk and sips from poison cups
And don't you trust the scientist
He says "life is like a wine glass" as he spills his drink like secrets
All across your dress and says
"My dear, I must confess
I never thought you ever knew what love was like for real
I never thought you needed me"