i see your finger wrapped around the trigger of your imaginary 74
i feel the empty pit inside your stomach you scramble so tirelessy to fill
i hear your muffled cries hidden behind your toughboy masquerade
i taste the bitterness of your sorrow
and the familiar burn of whiskey straight from the bottle

i want to reach inside your stone-cold chest
and cradle in my hands the warm fragile heart i know you hide
you're a baby bird nestled in a bed of tangled thorns
and i'm the little girl wishing to nurse you to health in a shoebox lined with cotton

i see you in brass knuckles on soft shaking hands
and in leather belts digging into sore red skin
i love you more than you could ever know
or even begin to understand