my teeth run red from indefinitely being set on edge
stained with sunday blood and scarred from biting my tongue
to keep from telling myself what i already know
and to know that no matter what i say
no matter how loud i can sing i can't compete
with the ringing inside your head

so if that's the case i'm sorry dear
but i refuse to use my indoor voice any longer
until the blood drains from my skin
and i'm blue in the face from all the
shaking yelling never understanding boundaries
of time or grace or reasonable amounts of patience

when you've got the whole world in your hands
and i've got no feeling in my fingertips
gone numb from trying to reach across
the distance between whatever it is
suffocating that little light inside of you
and where i used to stand and wait

so if there's a break in your ringing
and my shaking stops or my singing makes it across
remember i meant it
every word

as dust on the scales as grass of the field
so are our days with the serpent on our heels
the reed is bruised the sky is cracked
you wear your pain as a veil of black

proverbs of ashes smear you with lies
the one who changed your name has touched your side.
fortune and favor you have not known
what is the vine, you have not grown?

 i will not sing songs when you're heavy
 i will not speak words to make it clear
 i will stay with you and all that you carry
 i would trade my love for all your fears.

if i speak or refrain you may not be changed
for your deliverance your days are arranged
to the roots of the mountains you sink down
hurled into the deep, spit onto the ground

severe mercy is your one great hope
it is well, it will be well with your soul

 i will not sing songs
 i will not speak words
 i will stay with you and all that you carry,
 i will trade my love... for all your fears