Tongue

Every song I write is personal, but this was the hardest to write to date. The lyrics to Tongue, from the forthcoming album Ashes.

 

 

The skin recalls what the mind shuts out

To taste, to shudder – I let you in.

To beg, to tremble, to fear for love – 

– Your tongue taught me so many things.

Sweet to sweetness – could I recall

What was tender, and what was best?

A dream, a vision. The rot crept in – 

Those final phrases eclipsed the rest.

 

 

{A bridge/a password/an anchor for insubstantial fantasy – nothing more}

The failure of your tongue spears me through.

 

 

A bruise, a thumbprint – the mark endures,

Thought to muscle, lips to skin.

A call to memory cannot mask

A sickly smell where the rot crept in.

An open archway, the bars brought down – 

No thought to struggle, no will to run.

Softness conquered what strength found strong – 

Too late, too sudden – the hurt was done.

 

 

The skin recalls what the mind shuts out

And echo alters what’s been and gone.

A gaping hole where your lips met mine and

Empty jaws where our love had hung.

Bitter relics – the mark endures – 

Sweet to sweetness – stroke to stroke – 

My body trembles – the skin recalls – 

My tongue remembers the words you spoke.