these are the words i will write down/in water on stone/to never repeat while i wash all my sin/from my bone/and this is the skin which i shed/from my body of shame/don't look at it, don't touch it, and dear god/don't give it a name/these are the weapons i dismiss and/lay by the door/to summon reluctantly only as/a last resort/and this is the song i will sing/some of them know who i am, and who i'll become/some of them know what it is that i was running from/& all of them whispered a warning in the ears of the little ones/saying "this is the wrong thing to be..."/these are my masters, all of them slain/by my hand/now lost to all, except for the sea/and the sand/now this is the start of a whole new life/to me/i've lost, gained, and lost and now i will find out/what is to be/and this is the song i will sing/some of them know who i am, and who i'll become/some of them know what it is that i was running from/& all of them whispered a warning in the ears of the little ones/saying "this is what you will be..."/these are the words i will write down/in water on stone/remember them, children, for they are all i have/ever known....