Barbed Wire In A Winter Coat

Rain on steel.
Train overhead.
I know these faces.
Know what's unsaid.
Yeahhh.
She keeps us talking.
He keeps things light.
I know they're tired.
I know that bite.
She stitches the circle.
Her own seams split.
He laughs through the trouble.
Then goes home with it.
I walk beside them.
I watch the road.
We carry it different.
I know that load.
A nod at the crossing.
A hand on a sleeve.
Small things that say
There's room here for me.
I come from war.
I still wear the wire.
Trying to keep warm
Without catching fire.
Heart or asshole.
Bit of both.
I got barbed wire
In a winter coat.
I mean to help.
I make it hard.
I let you close.
I keep my guard.
Heart or asshole.
I don't know.
Got a sharp mouth.
Still show up though.
I see him passing.
His smile sits wrong.
I shorten my stride.
He follows along.
We talk about weather.
We talk about work.
Each word steps round
The place that hurts.
I want to fix it.
I start too fast.
Turn his whole trouble
Into my old past.
His eyes go shuttered.
I know that door.
I stop giving answers.
He tells me more.
I know how to brace.
I know how to grip.
Learning to hold
Without making it slip.
Heart or asshole.
Bit of both.
I got barbed wire
In a winter coat.
I mean to help.
I make it hard.
I let you close.
I keep my guard.
Heart or asshole.
I don't know.
Got a sharp mouth.
Still show up though.
My temper comes quick.
My care comes rough.
I hear myself talking.
I know it's enough.
Can't call every
Sharp thing heart.
Sometimes I tear
What I'm holding apart.
I own what I said.
I let it stand.
No speech about scars.
No blame on these hands.
We walk different streets.
We eat on our own.
But I know whose name
Lights up my phone.
A place in their thoughts.
A pause in their day.
I know what it's worth
When they look my way.
Heart or asshole.
Bit of both.
I got barbed wire
In a winter coat.
I mean to help.
I make it hard.
I let you close.
I keep my guard.
Heart or asshole.
I don't know.
Got a sharp mouth.
Still show up though.
Tonight I'm the quiet.
Tonight I'm the strain.
He takes the long way
With me in the rain.
Doesn't ask questions.
Doesn't dig deep.
Just slows his steps
To the pace I keep.
I thought I was shelter.
I thought I was steel.
Someone walks beside me.
I let myself feel.
Heart or asshole.
Bit of both.
I got barbed wire
In a winter coat.
I mean to help.
I make it hard.
I let you close.
I keep my guard.
Heart or asshole.
I don't know.
Got a sharp mouth.
Still show up though.
Rain on steel.
Train overhead.
A nod at the crossing.
Enough said.