Anthem

Anthem Oct 2016

She said
I'll burn alive to keep you warm
I'll be your shelter from the storm
I'll be the coat for when you get cold
I'll be the chair when you get old
I'll light up the dark when you get scared
I'll be around when no one's there
I'll be the boat when the waters flood
I'll be whatever, this is love.

Now I sit here, all alone
In my dark and empty home
She left the spark that she had set
and I wonder how she could've forget
I don't know what she thought she'd find
Maybe a little piece of mind
She said she'd always be around, but where is she now?
So I wait, patient and scared
Each time I return, hoping you'll be there
Your whispers running through my head
I wish you'd never said those things you said.

Anthem Oct 2016

what this soiled sea meant to me/

and i dig until my fingers are black
looking for what i lack
all i find are worms and dirt
my head is sore and my back hurts
i can still hear the last words that you told me
"i don't mind being alone, i just hate feeling lonely"
and i cage my tongue
in the space behind my teeth
i'm counting 5.4.3.2.1.
i'm remembering how to breathe
cause if you say you never loved me
i'll know you're still a liar
and if i say i never wondered
i deserve every inch of this terrible fire

Anthem Oct 2016

/Stand So/Tall When/In Fact/In Ruin/

if the gods wished to punish us
they just need to answer our prayers
it's exactly what we deserve
for leaving faith up in the air
it's a hopeless benediction
a song for the lonesome to sing
a wish for wings that work
and the flood they promised to bring
those without the music
thought the rest of us insane
as they raise our mouths on high
they drown to spite the rain
they beat us with the book
that tells them they should love
while they canonize the snake
they crucify the dove

Anthem Oct 2016

Ruination

you got a lot of followers
but not that many friends
does it keep you warm and night?
will you feel safe upon the end?
you talk of starting over
yeah, you want to burn it down
the seeds will never be clean
after they've been buried in the ground
you remember things
you knew were never true
yeah, you boast of things
you know you'd never do
like a lighter without a flame
it will be never be the same
when they've all been beaten back
then who will you blame?
yeah, you pass the hat
and you collect their change
while you speak of your crusade
not knowing that
the end will come
from the rust upon the blade

Anthem Sep 2016

// stages // steps //

this conversation is one-sided
but that's not my choice
i'd trade ever inch of your silence
to hear the sound of your voice
you're a shrine without a saint
and i'd burn all of my beliefs
if it would have killed the cancer
that made you have to leave
i'm sorry all i said was
"please, don't leave"
i know it's not your fault
that's just how much you meant to me
so now i live without your guidance
i stumble in the dark
your body might've left
but your soul has left a mark
that i'll carry in me forever
until we meet again
that day can't come soon enough
you are my one, my only, my best friend.

Anthem Sep 2016

the blind follow the blind in figure eights towards infinity.

a night unlike those before
someone who always asks for more
and the inspiration will never be found
you can't blame the seeds for being planted in the ground
drunken nights without sleep
broken promises you'll never keep
memories too restless to die
lies not kind enough to die
nothing good is original
everything good is dead
i've warned them all before
no one else listens to the voices in my head
but *******!
it can be hard to believe
in something you have no hope
of ever being able to perceive
i don't blame you for refusing
to place faith in what they say is true
but the decisions been handed down
and there's nothing else that i can do.

Anthem Sep 2016

Without You, I'm Nothing.

the holiest of holies
and i dare not speak your name
i'm not worthy of your love
but i'll ruin you just the same
you're the child in a minefield
i'm a bomb that lies in wait
not considered providence
no, i wouldn't call it fate
as you place water upon
these parched and broken lips
i draw you in with an innocent smile
then bite your hands off at the wrist