It began when he came of age and he sort of stumbled into the trade Now he lives for the sight of blood And the sight of a carcass smartly flayed: He learned the Butcher's cuts and the Butcher's blade And on and on through Bones he saws His bloody hands turn into claws He learned to pare the life away And he taught that to his blade
But it comes as no surprise To the ones with eyes to see That the butcher sees the world the way the shepherd sees his sheep
And someday you may find That you hurt just like me When the eyes you're trapped behind Are cauterized by all they've seen And there will be no Sundays
Lying awake, lying alone Day-dreaming of unsharpened scissors and broken Bones Every carcass turns into dollar signs In the Butcher's eyes mean is money He says, "time is wasting if I'm not cutting" So he sprang from bed to whet his knife In the chalky, white moonlight
Tenderize skin and meat and bone Blind eyes longing to be one with the knife Tender eyes--skin and meat and bone-- "Blind, I was born into the arms of the night"