Acting Class

When I go to acting class
I pretend that you're dead
When I need to cry
It works every time
Folks say
I'm really good
And one day I'll win an Oscar
But really I'm just terrified
Of not having you in my life
Call it technique
Call it hitting my mark
Call it the muscle memory of the heart
A black box theater apartment
That's home to the art
You can cue the tears
Sell the laughs
As life unfolds it shows to be nothing more than an acting class
If you forget your lines
Simply improvise
And don't think too hard on what it means to act right
I pretend that you're dead when I need to cry
When I go to acting class
I pretend that you're dead
When I need to cry
It works every time
Call it method, call it craft
Call it technique, call it tact
Call it trauma, call it hurt
Call it nostalgia, call it nerves
You are everything I hoped
You are the only one that knows
Who I am
You are my home
You are my ribs
You are my soul
Call our fights performance art
Make love for show
Have a baby girl
And put it all on video
Then watch me vaporize into the abyss
Come back as the wolfmother of Remus and Romulus
Yes I can shapeshift
For you I can shapeshift
Kiss kiss kiss kiss
I bleed for you
Smack my head against a brick wall for you
That's what I'm willing to do
Though I don't know why you would want me to

You can cue the tears
Sell the laughs
As life unfolds it shows
To be nothing more
Then an acting class
If you forget your lines
Simply improvise
And don't think too hard
On what it means to
Act right
Act right

I pretend that you're dead when I need to cry

Act right