Cornish Reconstruction

[Verse 1]
The chip in that mug from the V&A
looks like the coastline of Bude Bay.
You say it adds character, a flaw to keep,
but it’s not the same one I bought you from the museum shop.
We just call it the same.

[Chorus]
If we replace the parts one by one, Anna,
and sand down the mark where the damage was done,
Is this the same love we started from?
Or just a Cornish reconstruction?

[Verse 2]
You stopped liking The Cure since that Tuesday back in March,
and the flat smells of your hairspray and wet rust from the arch
of the window frame. I painted it grey.
Said you preferred the original way.
But that was flaking away.

[Spoken-Word Interlude]
(A woman's voice, distant, as if from a phone recording)
"You just... you stare at things like you're trying to memorise them before they're gone. It's exhausting, Kieran. It's like you're dating a ghost."

[Chorus]
If we replace the parts one by one, Anna,
and sand down the mark where the damage was done,
Is this the same love we started from?
Or just a Cornish reconstruction?

[Bridge]
I trace the new fault lines in your palm,
a sedimentary layer of calm.
Every cell you have is new since then.
Am I in love with you, or who you've been?

[Outro]
Just a reconstruction.
Are we a reconstruction?