Another Perfect Ruin

[Verse 1]
That Lincoln welder from your dad's old shed
Spits a blue light, smells of ozone and dread.
It's quarter-past-nine on a Tuesday in March,
I'm trying to force a brand new kind of arc
On two scrap plates I pulled from the shipyard fence,
Trying to make this loneliness make sense.

[Chorus]
And I'm trying to lay a clean bead for you, Marie,
But all I'm making is another perfect ruin.

[Verse 2]
"Just let it cool slow," is what you always say,
But the steel pulls apart when the heat bleeds away.
There's a hairline crack, a map of where we failed,
A story the slag has already detailed.
I grind it all down and I try it again,
Feeling the ghost of your hand on my skin.

[Chorus]
And I'm trying to fuse these two edges for you, Marie,
But all I'm building is another perfect ruin.

[Bridge]
This tungsten tip glows with a cherry-bright gleam,
A tiny hot star in a failing dream.
And I know I'll miss this, the hum and the ache,
For goodness' sake.

[Chorus]
And I'm trying to write you this song for you, Marie,
But all I'm singing is another perfect ruin.

[Outro]
The metal ticks quiet, the blue light is gone.
Another perfect ruin to build a life on.