Battle Cries

I'm at the brink, don't laugh (The wrinkles and bricks that we're left with at last)
At the winks I've masked (And drink will fix all those questions unasked)
(Who died...) Who'll save you when you fall? (...and made you king of it all?)
Who wins this war? You've a knack (Now the wind is so warm on the back of my neck)
For applause from the back of the stalls but you lack (As I walk with the sun hand in hand from the wreck)
The conviction to look at me straight and say, "yes" (Some fictions we took to mean fate, believe me, I know)

Don't be uncouth, be a man (Tell the truth to me love, does my hair look as nice...)
Don't lie with your eyes, you know I despise that look (...as it did when you once tangled up in your eyes?)
Look at me as you say this ("You're home"), don't look at your phone
For God's sake, I'm
Done with your dreams, they won't last ('Cause that sun that beams down as my hands touch the grass)
Thirty winters will pass, you'll look back (After summers of fasting, I feel hunger at last)
At the woman 50-year-old-you will be proud to have known (For the person 15-year-old-me would be proud to have known)

'Cause these plates, they smash like waves (Place your smile in mine)
And the wine stains, hide the tears (Why stay? Hide the–)
But that breathing you hear, don't mistake it for sighs
Don't you realise they're just battle cries, dear?
And these lines aren't wrinkles, dear heart (Hardly knew the words)
They're just dollops of paint on a new work of art (I'm dolled up, love, don't I deserve to–)
And as I walk away I know, I've been through the wars
But that creaking you hear in my bones, it's not pain, it's applause

With you, I could summon the gods and the stars (Come on love, please, don't start)
Watch them dance out the plays that we wrote from the heart (Sing your notes, play your part)
And we'd laugh at the ghosts of our fears (Then we'll leave)
We were gods, we were kids

"'Come at me, your blaggards," you'd yell from the banks (You'd from the back of the gallery)
Wielding words against make-believe wizards and tanks (Say goodbye)
And by God, love, believe me, I wanted to play too, I did (And I am not a...)
But we sunk into water no creature can know (A drunkard, a daughter, a preacher, God knows)
You dragged us both into the darkness that grows (How you dragged me along to watch all your shows)
Our devils broke rank (Oh, dear God) and out of the depths came an army (I won't...)
I won't let you turn our last night into this (Leave without a fight)
I'm going to binge, watch a box set, drink wine, reminisce
This isn't a break-up, dear heart, it's a season finale

'Cause these plates, they smash like waves (Place your smile in mine)
And the wine stains, hide the tears (Why stay? Hide the–)
But that breathing you hear, don't mistake it for sighs
Don't you realise they're just battle cries, dear?
And these lines aren't wrinkles, dear heart (Hardly knew the words)
They're just dollops of paint on a new work of art (I'm dolled up, love, don't I deserve to–)
And as I walk away I know that I've been through the wars
But that creaking you hear in my bones, it's not pain, it's applause
It's not pain (It's applause), it's not pain (It's applause)

All it took to unearth in the dust and the dirt
Some release or respite from the heat and the hurt
Was taking the time now and then to ask how I am
And now at the end (At the end of all things)
I'm not gonna scream, beat my chest at the wind
I'm doing fine