Devils from Harriet Bradshaw by Harriet Bradshaw

Devils

I used to know the devil, he wore blue velvet.
When I was lonely I’d let him in,
Crying “I can’t help it!”
He’s a drummer in the walls
And he’d brush my brains about,
Say my time for life and love is running out.

But I’m inclined to focus on the dark,
When I should step out in the light,
But my eyes took their time
To readjust to kindness.

I know this girl, she writes down all her
Happy thoughts in notes,
She gives them out to everyone,
Not knowing what she doesn’t know.
My friend says she’s a devil
In angel’s colours,
There’s nothing worse-
At least He owns his grim grey pallor…

But he’s inclined to babble
When he’s had a little whiskey,
And his tumbler wobbles in his hand,
It’s risky leaning in...

It seems I attract him,
I guess once I wanted him,
The diamond with the flaws,
But now he knows I’m yours
And you’re not like him.

But devils take their time
To wear your skin away,
They steal a little every day
Until your brittle bones give way.
Angelic Aryan faces
And their clever airs and graces
Conceal the words so they’re not heard,
Just taken in and lived and burned.

They promise you the sky
And as you kiss each day goodbye,
You don’t know how you missed the lie,
Or missed his two fine fingers crossing…

It seems I attract them,
I guess once I summoned them,
The wolves in kidskin gloves,
But now that we’re in love,
I couldn’t want them.

I do so seem to find them,
Oh, how once I longed for them!
The devils with their flaws…
But now they know I’m yours
and you’re not like them.

• Folk
• alternative folk
• female
• music hall
• singer-songwriter
• songwriter
• Middlesbrough