Mercy Wears a Black Coat

Mercy came at midnight Wearing rain upon her sleeve She said, boy, I know your damage But you still have to believe

I was sitting with my failures In a room without a door Drinking from the kind of silence That don’t forgive no more

There were sirens in the distance There were ghosts beneath the floor There was love I never answered Still knocking at my door

Mercy wears a black coat Mercy walks through fire Mercy does not flatter Mercy does not lie

She came to cut me open Not to make me clean Mercy wears a black coat And she came for me

I said I was only tired I said I was only sad I said everybody leaves things They were never meant to have

But she looked at me like thunder With a candle in her eyes Said the worst kind of prison Is the one you call your life

I had prayers without surrender I had guilt without a name I wanted all the healing Without touching any flame

Mercy wears a black coat Mercy walks through fire Mercy does not flatter Mercy does not lie

She came to cut me open Not to make me clean Mercy wears a black coat And she came for me

And the choir said Run no more Run no more Lay your weapons on the floor

And the drums said Breathe again Breathe again You are not the worst you’ve been

Mercy wears a black coat But her hands were made of light She took the blade inside my chest And turned it toward the night

I fell down like a sinner I stood up like a man Mercy wears a black coat But I finally understand

She did not come to save me She came to make me see The wound was not my ending It was only calling me