A better wife

i'm just something else he tried
a catalogue of interests in a catalogue of lives
i hid myself from him, i wouldn't say it was a lie
but hiding worked its way into the way we lived our lives

it was clear that he was troubled
he had trouble with his pride
but i could never tell if the fault was his or mine
so i drew myself away, i wouldn't say i left behind
a man who would never know the man he was inside

in a moment he was gone, i could see that he had died
by the quickening of blood and the fluttering of eyes
so i held him to my breast like all the better wives
who furnish men with love and never leave their side

i'm just something else he tried
the salt that's left behind after tears have dried
and i suppose that i'll go on, after all it was my life
and all that i supposed i held has come to be untied