That Unwanted Animal

There’s a second wind coming

As we lie here in our bed

It rattles the bones of our fathers

Carries whispers from the dead

And you, you light a candle

And I make sure the bairns are fed

You turn the telly on

To drown out your fear

And make the bed up silent on the floor

So no-one will hear us

You try so loud to love me

But I cannot seem to hear

'Cause you, you touch

My skin peels off like paint

But beneath all of our panting

There’s this noise I cannot shake

Can’t you hear that scratching?

There’s something at the door

But the wind has picked us up now

We’re hanging in the air

And as you grip me like an animal

That you’re about to spear

Be good to me, I whisper

And you say: What?

And I said: Nothing, dear

Can’t you hear it?

It can hear you

It wants me to

(Throw the plate at the wall)

I'm the paper cut that kills you

I'm the priest that you ignored

I'm the touch you crave

I'm the plans that you made

But fuck all your plans I'm bored

And can’t you hear that scratching?

I ask your eyes

I’ve got knuckle burn from typing all these lines into your chest

And as the belt from your buckle is tightening I make shipwrecks out of my dress

And the door below it splinters

And the creature creeps inside

And we fall into each other

The scratching grows so loud

Because that unwanted animal

Wants nothing more than to get out

And I scream: Oh, what’s the time, Mr Wolf?

But you, you’re blind, you bleat, you bear your claws

And you rip my rib cage open

And devour what’s truly yours

And our screaming joins in unison

I cry out to the lord

'Cause if we join our hands in prayer enough

To God, I imagine it all starts to sound like applause

Can’t you hear it?

It can hear you

It wants me to

And those plates they smash like waves

(Place your hand in mine)

And on the wind it howls

(How long can this last?)

But that second wind is coming love, it’s coming for all we own

And on the creature scratches, it doesn’t know how to get out (let me out)

And you, you follow philosophies

But me, I laugh I choke

Well hello, my hollow holofernes

I wink but you don’t get the joke

Hold the hand of the God-child, they said

As he falls from the sky

Be good to me, I beg of him

Be good to me, I beg of him

Be good be good be good be good be good be good be good

And he replies

No, no, not I