Ramshackle Glory - Your heart is a muscle the size of your fist

Dalia never showed me nothing but kindness.
she would say:
"i know how sad you get. and some days, i still get that way,
but it gets better. it gets better. it gets better. sweetie, it gets better, i promise you."
and she tells me:

your heart is a muscle the size of your fist.
keep on loving. keep on fighting. and hold on,
and hold on, hold on for your life.

ian built a cabin in the woods to live in. for years,
terrifying noises kept him up at night
with a twelve gauge under his pillow.
he's living in boston now, going to art school.
i forgive him. i forgive him. hell, i'll admit it: i'm proud of him.

Serena's an architect and a carpenter.
she's such a feminist she says she isn't one,
because goddamn, my gender shouldn't matter.
and her motorcycle glides through the streets of providence,
down to the warehouse district.
The paint job is as stunning as her knowledge of medieval building techniques.

your heart is a muscle the size of your fist.
keep on loving. keep on fighting.
and hold on, and hold on, hold on for your life.

this one goes out to georgios.
he knows how to dance.
abby banks, your book is beautiful,
and fuck anyone who says otherwise.
scott, i love you and you make me glad to be alive
i promise that i'm gonna pay you back.
you always know how funny everything is,
even when i'm so serious that it's gonna be the death of me.

like the time that our friend chuck came over to our house.
he said he needed somebody to take care of his pets,
because he was going out of town.
i asked him: "where?"
and he said: "new mexico."
i asked if i could get a ride.
he said: "no, you don't want to follow me where it is that i'm going."

he pulled out of the drive way.
that was the last time we saw him,
because he drove straight to his parent's cabin
and put a bullet in his head.

your heart is a muscle the size of your fist.
keep on loving. keep on fighting.
and hold on, and hold on, hold on for your life.