Butchered and Sewn

In a town long ago lived a butcher so skilled
He seemed to give new life to all that he killed
The meat he'd lay gently on display in his store
More beautiful now than before

At home was a seamstress, his blushing young wife
Her work was transcendent, astir with new life
The textiles she stitched, whether new or repaired
Appeared to dance lightly in the air

Butchered and sewn, Butchered and sewn
Needle and thread and gristle and bone
Butcher and seamstress filling their home
Butchered and sewn, butchered and sewn

The two se(a)med quite happy to others in town
But the weight of a secret was bearing them down
Though husband and wife tried with all of their might
To conceive, there was no child in sight

So in whispers and darkness the two wove a plan
To give life to a child, aye, the woman and man
Conspired to use their skills together as one
And create in their likeness a son

Butchered and sewn, Butchered and sewn
Needle and thread and gristle and bone
Butcher and seamstress filling their home
Butchered and sewn, butchered and sewn

A patchwork of fabric, a selection of meat
And bones gathered tender with stitches laid sweet
Were connected and fashioned in a human-like way
The result stands before you today

For I am the son they fabricated that night
With love blood and sweat and a droplet of spite
The two were so bitter at their situation
That it came through in their creation

I'm that they had had the purest intentions
And held to the plan during my foul conception
But the sadness bred weakness in the flesh and the thread
As equally alive as it's dead

Now cast out so briskly, thrown out in the street
I've struggled to find my way on rotting feet
And keep myself whole, not apart at the seams
Created from the scraps of my parents' dreams

Butchered and sewn, Butchered and sewn
Needle and thread and gristle and bone
Butcher and seamstress filling their home
Butchered and sewn, butchered and sewn

Butchered and sewn, Butchered and sewn
Needle and thread and gristle and bone
Neither birthed from the womb nor carved out of stone but
Butchered and sewn, butchered and sewn