Love Me in Pieces

[Verse 1]
You held your hand out, I gave you a thumb
A small red promise, warm from the drum
You said, “It’s nothing,” and kissed where it bled
I smiled like a saint with a storm in my head

[Pre-Chorus]
Every vow has a price at the seam
Every touch takes a thread from the dream

[Chorus]
Take what you need, I can bear the pain
Love me in pieces, call it by name
I gave you my hands, then the skin from my chest
Now I’m all open doors and an unquiet nest

[Verse 2]
You kept my laugh in a jar by the bed
My sharp little anger, the words I never said
I kept your coat when the winter was gone
And wore it like proof I could still carry on

[Pre-Chorus]
Every goodbye leaves a mark in the grain
Every return asks me over again

[Chorus]
Take what you need, I can bear the pain
Love me in pieces, call it by name
I gave you my hands, then the skin from my chest
Now I’m all open doors and an unquiet nest

[Bridge]
Who am I, when the giving is done?
A shape made of holes where the warmth used to run
Still, when you reach, I lean into you
Though I know what the reaching will do

[Final Chorus]
Take what you need, but look at my face
Joy and hurt braided tight in one place
I gave you my hands, and I gave you my breath
You left me the parts you could not take yet

[Outro]
If nothing is mine, let this be true:
I chose every piece I gave to you