Strength

Lyrics

[Intro]
No armor on my shoulder.
No iron on my hip.

[Verse 1]
Just a white cotton dress and a smile on my lip.
I smell the copper on his breath, the dust on his coat.
The ancient alarm at the base of my skull rings loud,
Telling the body to scatter into the crowd.
But I step forward into the heat.
And I drop to my knees at his feet.

[Chorus]
Open the jaw, feel the ridge of the bone.
This is a kingdom you can't take with a stone.
I am not breaking you, I am just holding the gate.
Beneath the invisible weight of the figure-eight.
We could tear each other apart,
But we're learning the rhythm of a heavier heart.

[Verse 2]
He has teeth like pale daggers, he has muscle like a flood.
He could snap me like a dry branch if he wanted blood.
I weave fourteen stalks of wild fennel into a chain,
A ridiculous leash for a creature of pain.
I stroke the gold mane, I push on the chin.
I find where the terror ends and the awe can begin.

[Chorus]
Open the jaw, feel the ridge of the bone.
This is a kingdom you can't take with a stone.
I am not breaking you, I am just holding the gate.
Beneath the invisible weight of the figure-eight.
We could tear each other apart,
But we're learning the rhythm of a heavier heart.

[Bridge]
It’s not a battle won, it's a balance we keep.
Every time that he wakes, every time that we sleep.
I am a cage made of nothing at all.
He is the thunder that chooses to stall.
My bare hands are trembling, but they never withdraw...
I am petting the edge of the maw.

[Chorus]
Open the jaw, feel the ridge of the bone.
This is a kingdom you can't take with a stone.
I am not breaking you, I am just holding the gate.
Beneath the invisible weight of the figure-eight.
We could tear each other apart,
But I'm resting my thumbs on the pulse in the dark.

[Outro]
A leash made of flowers.
A mouth full of knives.
Looping forever, for the rest of our lives.
Over the head, the endless line.
Yours and mine.