Radium Dial Girl

I watched you raise the paint brush and touch it to your mouth
The point you made so disengaged like when you threw me out of the house
Acrylic on the camel hair pointed with your lips
You lay your line so straight and fine with hands upon your hips

I offered you forever when anemia unfurled
You were my radium dial girl

I used to think the artistry we felt in Illinois
Was surely safe, then we'd escape the chronometric ploy
From doughboys in the trenches to syphilitic cheats
Necrotic jaw and sightless law not wanting to retreat

I offered you forever when anemia unfurled
You were my radium dial girl

You made me leave in '30 and you went about your task
I found a ride and found a bride. Expired under a mask
Eventual admission, the science proved the case
The business paid, reprisals made when they won in '38

I offered you forever when anemia unfurled
You were my radium dial girl
Painted like the countenance that traveled round the world
You were my radium dial girl