Declaration

Performed by Accidental Bedfellows



My wife, I have done a terrible thing
The ink had barely dried
And I was standing in a ruined home
By a grieving mother's side

There was a cruel constriction
Like a hill fire in my chest
Like there was not enough oxygen
In the room for all of us

My wife, will you still love me
Now that history has my hand
I declare I had no choice in this
I am just scoured by the wind

My wife, I have done a terrible thing
The paper in my hand
My hill fire spread throughout the House
In the ayes of every man

And for a moment I was naked
My suit a bloodied rag
And children cried for water
But I could not feel my hands

My wife, will you still love me
Now that history has my hand
I declare I had no choice in this
I am just scoured by the wind

My wife, I have done a terrible thing
I shook the hands of men
And women 'ranged in crisp white clothes
Like bowling alley pins

And my pockets filled with water
And though the cameras didn't see
I could not speak for all the ocean
Swallowed down in me

My wife, will you still love me
Now that history has my hand
I declare I had no choice in this
I am just scoured by the wind

~ Brendan Bonsack 2014

Once Was Water
Released July 2014