i watch you fade
into the night
of formless shadows
shapeless sins

they swirl around you
before the strike
of deathly terrors
shrieking fiends

breathe it in
you say
to hold the
powers of darkness
at bay

let them in
and they will play
a little pain
like dancing splashes
of pouring rain
so quickly gone

keep them out
and they will rend
the very fibers of your soul
and when your blood
drips
upon the thirsty ground
they will stoop to smell
your fear

so breath it in
the darkling mist
come let them play
within the midst
of all your halfway
dreams
and thoughts of bliss

-

but in the end
the deepest pit
by spoonfuls dug
tick by tock
a dragon's bane
may prove

and
if the gifting shadows
fade
you will see
in the looking-glass
not your own
but the mirror of a madman
driven by
that
precious fear
to sell the soul
of all that he holds dear