The wood splits and gives you splinters, bark tears the tissue,
The bones crack, crumble and fracture, over and over again.
The veins burst and turn your skin, purple, blue and yellow,
And why don’t you cry, the breath out of your lungs?
When you’re scared,
When you’re bruised.
When you’re broken,
When you’re used up and spent.
Hide from the violence,
The knives on the hill.
Pretend that you’re dead,
Keep perfectly still.
The howl, the shriek, the teeth on the wind,
The peace behind the eyelids.
An unkindly god, an ungodly king,
Can you remember which side you were fighting?
When you’re scared,
When you’re bruised.
When you’re broken,
When you’re used up and spent.
Run from the violence,
The swords on the hill.
Pretend that you’re dead,
Keep perfectly still.
Are you hungry?
Are you tired?
Too much blood,
It gets in your eyes.
Hide from the violence,
The knives on the hill.
Pretend that you’re dead,
Keep perfectly still.
The bones crack, crumble and fracture, over and over again.
The veins burst and turn your skin, purple, blue and yellow,
And why don’t you cry, the breath out of your lungs?
When you’re scared,
When you’re bruised.
When you’re broken,
When you’re used up and spent.
Hide from the violence,
The knives on the hill.
Pretend that you’re dead,
Keep perfectly still.
The howl, the shriek, the teeth on the wind,
The peace behind the eyelids.
An unkindly god, an ungodly king,
Can you remember which side you were fighting?
When you’re scared,
When you’re bruised.
When you’re broken,
When you’re used up and spent.
Run from the violence,
The swords on the hill.
Pretend that you’re dead,
Keep perfectly still.
Are you hungry?
Are you tired?
Too much blood,
It gets in your eyes.
Hide from the violence,
The knives on the hill.
Pretend that you’re dead,
Keep perfectly still.
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