Beth DeSombre: Music
Ex-Voto
(Beth DeSombre)
Ex-Voto
When the swallows were returning
After I bled red and rust
Came the pure and painful yearning
Unprepared for ash and dust
Too long since an absolution
Months since I had even prayed
Hoped in vain for resolution
For this body I'd betrayed
If I make it through, I'll know what to do
If I make it through, I'll come back to you
Came a medic, dark and hollow
With his tools of gleaming steel
His incision left an echo
Parts I could no longer feel
Though he might excise the sickness
With his pale and jagged blade
There's no angel to bear witness
On this day the lord has made
If I make it through, I'll know what to do
If I make it through, I'll come back to you
Offered altars to the Virgin
Boldly robed in wedding white
Lit a flame and sang devotion
Just to make it through the night
When the morning came I shivered
As if this the only one
Priestly promises delivered
My salvation and the sun
If I make it through, I'll know what to do
If I make it through, I'll come back to you
I'll come back to you
© Beth DeSombre