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A Spreading Stain

from Live by Annika Bentley

/

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lyrics

Like a river, like a tree,
like my veins are growing out of me.
Does it seal you up inside?
Does it keep the wolves away?
Do you touch these sewn-on lines
to see what's left of you today?

I found a worm growing on my skin
and the harder I scratch, the deeper it digs in.
Like an undesired map, we mark the passing time
in flesh with tiny rivulets and the scars of carving knives.

Like a second spine, a highway to the brain,
you can shout out all you like and it gets there just the same.
Does it pierce your every thought,
are you a puppet of your own design?
Can it pump your blood for you, or help you stay immobilized?

No amount of hope undoes this damage done.
Once it's nestled down inside,
the parasite's as good as won.
An enemy of skin, not a tumor but a spreading stain,
with the highest hopes to overtake and then erase.
A flashing call to arms, my body bat signal,
a beacon of our enmity ensnares the less careful.
I promise to resist,
I swear to keep the inside in.
My ears are deaf to every beat against this armored skin.

As the sun is my mirror, my witness
I will burn all the skin upon my chest.
Will it cut the exit off, or will you find you are your own disease?
Will you watch the pulsing breast
as you give up your autonomy?

Like a ribbon, like these trees
like my veins are choking me
Does it seal you up inside,
does it keep the wolves away?
Do you touch these sewn-on lines
to see if you're still here today?

credits

from Live, released October 4, 2005

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Annika Bentley image

Annika Bentley Rochester, New York

Singer-songwriter & composer from Rochester, NY

Photo by Keith Parkins

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