Anaïs Mitchell
The Pursewarden Affair
Percy Pursewarden
Open up your door
I haven't come to break your cadence
Or mix your metaphor
And if I swore I was no critic
Would you let me come inside?
Where you write your famous lines
And you lay your secret plans
For suicide by sleight of hand

And you let me down so kindly
You don't love me
But you don't mind me

Percy Pursewarden
After all your hard traveling
Think a girl could lie down beside you
Without your world unraveling?
In a maudlin mess
Yes, that's my clothing in a pile
Just wanna stay a little while
Just wanna see that crooked grin
After the sedatives set in, hey

And then we're feeling fine
You don't love me
Well, I don't mind
Percy Pursewarden
I'll be gone before you wake
Back to the gallery of failures
To see what I can make of you
Pursewarden
Have mercy on my heart
Maybe I don't want to call it art
Just because you nailed it to the wall
Maybe I'm a critic after all

And you don't have to remind me
You don't love me
But you don't mind me