After the War

With a switch knife he cut his lip
 And gave me a rubella red kiss
 His hands sway with my hips until we're both too drunk to dance
 He thought maybe in another life
 I could have been the misfit's wife
 And when his ghost moves on, he'll come back as a wild dog
 One year later, he was gone
 He never came back from the war
 My love never came back from the war
 Love is nothing you can hold or have
 Like a secret whispered in my hand
 Still I carry a piece of him
 Saved all his letters in a reefer tin
 Kept his switch knife in my winter coat
 And when I walk from the train alone
 In the palm of my sweaty hand
 I hold that knife and think of him
 A few letters and his ghost
 Were all that came back from the war
 My love never came back from the war
 Stepped off the train into the evening air
 The creak and clank of the platform stairs
 A stranger's steps fell close behind
 A gloved hand grabbed my arm tight
 My wrist twisted out my switch knife
 And caught the blare of the street lamp's light
 Before I thrust it in that stranger's throat
 I heard a wild dog moan low
 The warm kiss on my knife and wrist
 It's like you came back from the war
 My love it's like you came back from the war