Vital Signs

It’s not something you could easily divine,
How to hold a knife
Or if you could even see the vital signs,
How to lose your life

How to watch it pass you by
How to bless the walls
Made to confine

Avert your eyes, it’s impolite
To watch a cripple try to shout
To see the tear-less try to cry
To watch it drowning in the tide

Amputations teach you what you were born to live without,
How to cut the line
You can only hold someone as tightly as you’re held,
How to change your mind

I could show you how to decide, I could show you wrong
I could show you how to leave behind, I could show you how to die
I could show you how to hold my hand,
But I can’t show you how to give it back