Two of Swords

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
I tied the linen strip myself, I pulled the knot secure.
I turned my chair away from where the bay is getting loud.
The crescent moon is doing whatever moons do, I am sure,
But I am busy keeping both my shoulders strictly bowed.
I hold the 'stay' in the left hand, the 'go' in the right,
Two lengths of iron I cross at the chest.
The edges are bitter, the fulcrum is tight,
And this is the posture of permanent rest.

[Chorus]
Hold the equilibrium, hold the heavy steel.
If I refuse to look at it, it isn't fully real.
Right over left, left over right,
I can sit in the center of the room all night.
Don't look at the water, don't look at the sky.
If nobody chooses, then nobody lies.

[Verse 2]
There is a draft beneath the doorframe, there’s a ticking in the pipe.
There is a text from 11:42 I haven't read.
I tell myself the variables are simply not yet ripe,
While I compute the calculus of everything unsaid.
The brain loves a paradox, loops in the slack,
Suspends the entire machine in the air.
With two crossed decisions protecting the back,
And neither one striking, and neither quite there.

[Chorus]
Hold the equilibrium, hold the heavy steel.
If I refuse to look at it, it isn't fully real.
Right over left, left over right,
I can sit in the center of the room all night.
Don't look at the water, don't look at the sky.
If nobody chooses, then nobody lies.

[Bridge]
The water behind me is slapping the wood.
The numbness is setting exactly as planned.
I'd take off the blindfold right now if I could,
But that would require uncrossing my hands.
And if I uncross them, the heavy things drop.
The stalemate is broken.
The quiet will stop.

[Outro]
So I do not choose.
Which means I don't lose.
Which means I am safe in the dark.
Left over right.

Right over left.
Waiting for the spark.