I can handle the truth;
When it dresses in disguises.
When it resides in Biblical passages;
When strewn over human lips.

I can handle the truth;
When it tries to hide from me.
I find it in poems, in paintings;
Cowering in words, imitating lies.

I can handle the truth;
When it drowns in tears.
When it fills the air, the sky;
When it's in the ground, in the water.

Yes, I handle the truth;
In the deepest elements of Earth.
In the cavernous life of man;
In the blatancy of nature.

Can the truth handle me?
When I chase it down;
Searching for it, coveting it.
When it tries to be gentle;
Cradling me, letting me down easy.

When it feels the warm salt of tears;
When it watches the cringe of pain.
When it kills, back stabs, leads me on.
When it knows how I feel and knows that he caused it.

I can handle the truth, but the truth can't handle me.