we,
we like the broken things
we like the bird
with the broken wings
so much pain
it no longer sings
we like the broken things
because they remind us
of our broken selves
and if we can fix them
maybe we can fix ourselves

we,
we like the broken things
the beaten down dog
hiding from all that we bring
but we’ll keep trying
because failure,
failure will tear us apart
never mind that this dog
has teeth
learned to bite
when their love dried up

but,
but we weren’t always this way
used to be closer to everyone else
afraid of the strange in the light of day
afraid of guys like red-haired Mikey K
when i was riding with the police
and they saw him lying on the tracks
foaming at the mouth
and in another world
“you been giving blowjobs again”
they laughed him,
they teased him,
and i just sat there mute
pretended i never knew him
and by the next year he was dead
killed with a shotgun
while he was trying to rob a home
but he, he still lives in my head,
he was a broken thing
maybe someone we could have helped
probably not…it’s easier to think like that

Now,
we like the broken things
we like to try and stop their pain,
the blackness and the weight life brings
because maybe,
maybe it means we can stop our own
maybe through them ours can be shown
but it’s never that easy
because the broken things have sharp edges
and whether the want to or not
they will slice into our lives
like teribbly keen, misahandled knives

me,
i love the broken things
because someone has to love them
not for what they can give
but maybe for what they need,
for what they need to live
and if i can love the broken things
it’s possible i can love me too
i can love me through and through
but i just gotta remember
the broken things
they can also break you
this is the opposite,
the opposite of what we want them to do
we don’t want them to drag us
into the dark and the deep blue
we want to lift and be lifted
into the brighter light of day
into the brighter light of what’s true
let these be the things,
these be the things we pursue.