D.D.T.

Brown bottle on the workbench

Dad's gloves

Heavy and stained

Warning label like a sermon

He laughs

Says "this keeps things clean"

Spray ghosts over the backyard

Bleach-burnt grass in a crooked line

We cough

But we keep playing

Treat the poison like it's fine

D.D.T

You're in my blood

You're in my teeth

You cling like guilt I never speak

D.D.T

You stain my sky

You salt my dreams

I breathe you in

You won't leave me

Classroom film on a cracked screen

Smiling kids in a white-washed reel

Voiceover says it's progress

My stomach knots around my meal

Years later in the mirror

Hands shake when the phone lights up

Doctor talking about "exposure"

Like a storm in a paper cup

D.D.T

You're in my blood

You're in my teeth

You cling like guilt I never speak

D.D.T

You stain my sky

You salt my dreams

I breathe you in

You won't leave me

You said it was safe

You said "trust me"

Now every quiet ache

Spells your name in me

(hey)

Can't scrub it off my skin

(hey)

Buried deep

Sealed in

D.D.T

You're in my blood

You're in my teeth

You cling like guilt I never speak

D.D.T

You stain my sky

You salt my dreams

I breathe you in

You won't leave me