Newborn Thing

I rode this sinking ship down to the bottom of the sea
Wherein the darkening deep burst into flames
And I warmed my teeth on the impossible heat
And found my feet underneath me again

And I went kicking to the surface just like a newborn thing
Ready to begin what I needed to begin
I felt the cracking of the whip and hissing in the street
And saw the men who were dying to live

I met a preacher who was tethered by shackles and chains
To the darkness down inside of him
And then a child is free, as the air she breathes
And I worried how I was meant to live

Count the cannons of the hill
It is easy to see that the mightiest star is the most afraid
Like a candle through the eye
Is it so hard to believe that a dead man has nothing to gain?

Now there's blood in my eyes from all this trying to see
I am deeper in then when I first came
And I have traded my gold for a pen and some ink
And I am trying hard to write my name