If I fall along the way
pick me up and dust me off.
and if I get too tired to make it
be my breath so I can walk

Tears streamed down his cheeks, the salt burning his skin like wildfire. He sobbed lifelessly in her arms, burying his face in his hands, as if willing his identity to waver and disappear. "Save me," he whispered, again and again. He felt his heart shatter into a million grains of sand. "Save me from myself.."
He sat numbly in his creaky, wooden chair, staring listlessly out the tiny window, still and silent. Light streamed in slowly, but it failed to bring life to the dullness of his eyes. Night rose to claim day into it's dusky embrace, and light faded into darkness. Still, he sat, eyes glazed and staring out into the distance. It seemed nothing had touched him, but life had left it's searing brand, and he would feel it's burn forever.

If I need some other love
give me more than I can stand
and when my smile gets old and faded
wait around I'll smile again

He lived only because of Her, and even though he did not know it, a flutter of his love still remained, buried between impenetrable layers of emptiness. All he felt of her presence was her gentle touch, and earthy scent. And her love, always her love, so sweet and soft, wrapping itself around him, nourishing his hungry soul.

Shouldn't be so complicated
just hold me and then
just hold me again

She came closer, the soft swaying of her skirts emphasizing the silence. Slowly, he turned, and brought his arms around her waist, anchoring himself to reality. He rested his head on her chest to feel the beating of her heart, and she stroked his hair with a feather-light touch. Slowly, his eyes opened, and the first time in the longest, he breathed.

Can you help me I'm bent
I'm so scared that I'll never
get put back together
keep breaking me in
and this is how we will end
with you and me bent


He felt an overwhelming rush of fear envelope him. He was scared, so small and frightened. Dazed, he broke their embrace and staggered back in confusion, eyes gazing at her unfamiliarly. Shadows loomed over him sinisterly, the brightness was blinding. He sought escape, crashing through the door, unaware of the splinters digging into his skin. Inside everything had turned upside down, everything had warped and changed, gone horribly wrong. He was cold, so cold and so scared. Trembling, he sought protection in the arms of the earth, burrowing himself into the dirt. He cried and cried and cried, because something inside had broke, and because he was destined to walk alone, for the fact that there could never be anything else.

If I couldn't sleep could you sleep
could you paint me better off
could you sympathize with my needs
I know you think I need a lot

He awoke in a bed, the smell of breakfast tickling his nose. She walked in, smiling, but there were dark circles beneath her eyes. He started to rise, but she put a finger to his lips and kissed him slowly, tenderly, her lips unfolding under his like the petals of a flower. They fell onto the bed, and thereafter, they experienced most beautiful and exquisite pain that could be shared.

I started out clean but I'm jaded
just phoning it in
just breaking the skin

She lay quietly beside him, feminine and yielding, representing all he was not, and should not ever corrupt. The temptation was almost too great, as he lovingly watched the way the sunlight danced over he skin, lent a silky sheen to her golden curls. The way she slept, lips parted, lent her an endearing innocence. He leaned close to whisper in her ears. "You know I would have never wanted it to be this way, my love." Brushing his lips against her, he swiftly departed. Inside of him, and wound healed ugly and disfigured.

Start bending me
It's never enough
I feel all your pieces
start bending me
Keep bending me until I'm completely broken in

How he longed for her, spending those lonely nights under the stars, knowing they both lived under the very same sky. He wondered if she longed for him also.

Shouldn't be so complicated
just touch me and then
just touch me again

She lifted her eyes from her garden, a hand raised to shield her eyes against the bright sun. A dark figure emerged from the forest; tall, thin, and heartbreakingly familiar. A surge of hope dared to venture into her heart, and her pulse quickened. She stepped forward uncertainly, trying, with a muddy hands, to wipe away the tears of pain and hurt forming in her eyes. Pained though he was, he could never had known the hurt she had experienced. He had thought he had spared her.
But when she saw his face, nothing else mattered. She ran to him, and their arms sought each other in an embrace, quickly and fiercely, clinging to other, as if daring fate to intervene. Suddenly, jarringly, as they stared into each other's eyes, everything fit into place, becoming clear and transparent. The circle was complete.