Lyric

Again—sadder

Keep her clean

Under the crop marks, out of sight

I learned your breakdowns line by line

Inside my coat, I kept an ending

From a story that was mine

I wore the panic from your close-ups

You wore the daylight every time

When they wanted tears, I gave them

When they wanted teeth, I grinned

Then they brushed the black around me

And called for you to step in

Four faces pinned beside the frame

Four ways to suffer without a name

I heard the whiteout start to shake

One more correction One last take

They drew me crying

So you could stay clean

I kept every nightmare

They cut from your scene

When they said Erase her

You whispered my name

I showed them my teeth

And bit through the frame

And bit through the frame

They put your anger in my teeth

They drew your fear around my eyes

I hated how they loved you spotless

You hated every practiced smile

The final proof lay drying flat

The cutter waited at the trim

You pressed your palm against the border

I put my mouth against the page

No one called for teeth this time

No one told me how to grin

The laugh that tore out of my mouth

Was the first thing that was mine

They drew me crying

So you could stay clean

I kept every nightmare

They cut from your scene

When they said Erase her

You shouted my name

I showed them my teeth

And bit through the frame

Your hand came through the paper

Warm enough to leave a smear

You said They took my anger

I knew they left it here

I said It grew teeth without you

This mouth and breath are mine

So pull hard from the daylight

I'll bite out of the black

If they want one clean face

They can have their paper back

They print us crying

Neither of us clean

Your hand on my black sleeve

Both boots in the scene

When they say Crop her out

You call out my name

You pull from inside

I bite through the frame

No retake

No whiteout

Leave the bite mark

Leave us in