Bruise Animals by The Deadfly Ensemble Lyrics

Evenings with mother tend to be discouraging. I always end up bruised
Evenings with father frighten me. All the animals will come to see where I've been abused
With bars of fragile bone and teeth I enclose a hundred birds and beasts. We sway and swoon
At night they howl and scream at me. They would all much rather be set free beneath the dull
Throbbing light of a blue-black moon

One upon my thigh has wings. He flies and sings. His face is purple
Watch me twist my mouth in pain; I've sat upon some beast again
Twice since Thursday I've sat bleeding out upon the back step, reading
Apparently I have the only broken-skin menagerie

Eyes and gills distinguish certain crimson epidermal oceans
Sunlight on my skin is dim and withered; in my zoo it's night

There's a flock upon my back, their beaks are long and cruel and black
They preen and flap with ruined capillaries; yes, there's blood, in fact
One around my throat makes sound. He screams against gray, early morning
Red and bending, never ending... He's some sort of snake, I've found

And eight legged toads and lambies in rows and pink-kitten circles of lilies and roses...
An ant-farm awry under lavender skies... all of this smeared on my thin-beaten skin