Another layer of self comes with time
I feel it slide over my skull
The layer glides down my neck, past my waist
My new layer of self joins the rest at my ankles

These layers come with no forewarning
They either slow my stride or spring my step
Some layers propel me to the stratosphere
Other layers drag me down to the depths

These layers of self are who I am
They come with time, they follow each event
I get no say, my consent is forfeit
I am a human borne of self-slices

A spectacle to pity and behold in awe

Every table turns, every turn twists
the truths began to shatter
truths on which I would subsist

The truths I knew changed like the tide,
weighing down heavily in my gut,
they lie inside, mummified


Now I live, free as the flock
I swing through the stars, honor my scars
learning about myself and taking stock

You come with doubt
with a knack for disparaging

You come with ego
with a conviction of having seen it all

You come to the foot of the solar system
with your cosmic disregard for virtue

You leave as you should
with a singed tongue
with eyes dripping ashes

There are no victors, no spoils to spare
The impasse has been reached
Zero-sum-gain is the name of the game

Keep the moody themes on repeat
Let your feelings fall flat
while trying to be discreet
still saying "no surrender, no retreat"

Slither to your desk
Seep those feelings off your chest
sleep flows like sap
sanguine notions stir even slower

Here's to the man in the mirror
the ascending sun
not some saint of sinners

Here's to a higher route
with its timely turns
and harvests wrought from drought

Here's to the ones who scorn
their hearts yet lined with lead
their purloined peace, I mourn

Here's to the blessed and grace-filled
who have left their radiant marks upon me
and fields of hope still to be tilled

In haunting form and dignified stance,
Dancing Rose waltzes beneath black and blue
crimson bleeding into the aether

She breathes the night's stillness
while energizing its tempo
for it is time to shed the heaviness

The weight of the world upon her petals
the streams of water dripping down her stem
these things shall be laid to rest, put to bed

With the floaty fragrance of home
and thorns to ***** any naysayer
our flower stays strong for the journey ahead

From the moon to the stars
Dancing Rose will spread her lovely songs
let us praise her in both name and deed
for she has bloomed past the sorrow
no longer a timid seed

There I saw it, past the skyline
the things yet to come
how they beckoned in the light
beacons calling me forth

With hell nipping at my heels
and a heavy heart to boot
scars both fresh and new
telling the tale of what I have been through

From simple paradoxes
to crystal clear complications
uncertainty is all I know for sure
the one fact that remains true

So I will not aim for sunny days
nothing is promised nor owed
I shall keep the hopes under lock and key
and tread on, as I always have

Come what may

You cannot take the light from the sun
nor the thunder from the storm

A hurricane’s might dare not be tamed
so the dancing kites it animates remain free

You cannot steal the truth from my lips
or the revelations from my eyes

A tsunami’s waves swallow all opposition
so that the sands below may slowly fall back to place

A thousand cuts could not bleed my heart
for it shines and beats in tune with the infinite
It sways to melodious tunes of righteousness
and rises above the hateful's attempts to drown it

Universal Acceptance over Tolerance
because one champions all paths
and the other only keeps distinctions between them

Universal Acceptance over Tolerance
because one seeks truth in every teaching
and the other simply looks instead of seeing

Universal Acceptance over Tolerance
because to accept means embracing beauty in any form
and to tolerate means keeping this beauty at arm's length

Confront Insecurity
He is misguided, and he should be unravelled

Hear Trauma
She has stifled her voice, but she must be listened to

Embrace Willpower
They will take you firmly in hand, so you can journey ahead

Magma slides down the throat
with little ceremony due to its rote
Smoke jets out in inky knots
from flared nostrils, scorched slots

Calefaction pulses past my chin
Napalmic streaks skitter across skin
The very air begins to reek of roast
a smoldering declaration, coast to coast

The sun itself settles in my solar plexus beneath
As I speak, eager flames spit past my teeth
Steps I take, to unjust enemy and cunning foe
impale the ground, utterly melting it below

Feeble are the ones who seek dispute
Mighty remains they who tread the path of truth

Their swords are in hand, stained in slayed ignobility
aware of wickedness and its toxic capability

Let the ones who seek shelter under darkness, under gloom
behold the justice and power of light, upon doom

To live as one is
with many a fault
numerable in noble efforts
as well as losses

Is far preferable than to tread
with treachery in one's heart
coated in living tissue
yet scant in moral virtue

Let the hells blaze behind me
and the heavens remain weary
for fighting injustice is justice itself
and truth alone triumphs

Take heed and take care
always try to illuminate ignorance
but if that approach fails
then scorch it with great zeal

froth churns like curdled milk
like all those seafaring stomachs
atop a bubbly rot with nautical fragrance

it does not touch the shore
for there an aged legion lays
and their sun-bleached bodies do not sway

past their figures stands an omen
a snuffed beacon to once lively men
whose souls now stain the ocean floor

night crawls patient and true
but the stars lack in their duties
and the moon must expand its efforts

so the lone sentinel burns to life
and in awakened curiosity, spins
with ceaseless, circular dance

the sentinel bellows with newborn fury
the froth stirs in dire frenzy
and as the stony legion is overwhelmed
the rocks bled black as they fell

And with its eternal fragility
splendorous sensitivity
life remains clasped in my hands
gently but firmly
kept guarded and true
from all cruelties, all slights
anything an evil world can brew

In the whispers of earliest morning
and the scurrying tones of nightfall
my mind lies open, vulnerable
like dark flowers cusping spring

With probing eyes, full and brown
I see that which I can realize
yet not realizing what must be seen
that which lies beyond my ocular reach

And with utmost effort, sinking innards
I toil with feelings buried inwards
dissected and magnified
preserved and studied under the light

“Come not between the Dragon and his wrath”
-King Lear, Act 1

Caught in the nooks of his imagination,
stood the devil in the daylight
sweet as venom
and with no ego at the altar

Ace up his sleeves,
tattered now as they were
grimly grinning from ear to ear
flashing eyes that drill through sinners

To those it concerned, he commanded

Come forth,
in singular order or all at once
leap into my cavernous maw
and be rendered unto ash
at the sheer conviction,
the utter totality,
and the complete radiance
that shall engulf you

“In his fist, the righteous sword is raised...and all that is wicked, he will tread beneath his feet”

I came, I saw
I shall not be conquered
Opulence and luxury are minor distractions
There is no time for stardust relationships
No need for the jangle of change in my pocket

We are not owed by any twist of destiny
Fate’s fingers crawl across those years
I swat them away in disgust
My teeth sank so eagerly into a simpler life
I was home, my skin stopped burning

Now what do I have?
All those comforts have been stripped from me
Regardless, I could not kneel
With every step taken, I tore
Concrete convictions warned they might crack

This life will smother your resolve
It will ****** smiles and muddy your heart
but I will be ****** if it makes me yield
Destroying every single doubt
Slaying insecurities with impunity

I am certainly not some exemplar
but I will still dig my nails into the filth
scrape my toes against the brick
I will climb out of this slick well
Whatever it takes
Whatever the cost

and may all the demons lie unknown
and all the beasts roam untamed
so that the Earth may swallow them whole
at the halting of time, the end of days

In this life or the next,
nothing is promised
In those moral lapses,
we must seize expiation
In our web of bleak moments,
we learn that diamonds are not forever
In one hand, I held my doubts
In the other, my regrets
and I declared the daunting vow
that I would break them just the same

Alas, here ends thy monotone passion
and as fiery tongues lash, so you ignite
trembling hands, eyes of crimson fashion
whipping across the land with monstrous might

Let them all clutch silence, gather around
marry their nightmares with its horrid call
for it gleefully saunters, the howling sound
and pounces perfervidly upon their thrall

Pain is as air, light and fleeting
a placid kiss to the farmer's yield
much unlike that whirlwind in one's bones-
that immutable suffering of journeys sealed

Down but never out
that is the promise
my oath to oblige

Torment courses deeply
into my grey matter
at the very spark of defeat

Today I may buckle
Tonight I might hesitate
but know it as truth
when I swear I will not break

With ragged wings
of splintered bone
Wispy voice
of straining storms
Comes time and tide
of pure morose

Heavy flakes collide
upon a face, stiff and sly
leather boots shriek against salt
souls sliding on ice

Steaming breath billows
clotting from that which speaks no evil
dreamland swirling free
steering clear of flesh and meat

Even a thousand planted kisses
would have a modicum of meaning
save for hearts worn on sleeves
and frozen memories

Tiny, shiny cannonballs from above
pelt the forlorn few
while one shifting through slush
hopes their aim is mighty true

No stranger to the game
Little aversion to familiar pains
Willpower as eternal as the sun
Coruscating until all is said and done

Saving the wickedness for weekends
But not exactly clawing to cash in
Trudging on with quick quips and granite eyes
Snarling spiteful like storming skies
Hiking for the perfect hill to die upon

Brittle lies the man left in the frost

so he shatters his knuckles to spite himself

and the winter suns could not care less

So I took fear by the throat
and commanded its utter silence
for I have long outgrown its weakness
and the inhibitions that it sowed

Why tempt fate,
when you can simply conquer it?

Fatalism is for fools
they walk the path of submission
the victims of destiny’s attrition

Stand with radiance and resolve
speak sweet words free of doubt
for you are no puppet tangled in strings

It’s been too long since hate’s holy weakness had my back
monomania navigated my neural networks, past the cracks
all that angelic singing suddenly started to turn shrill
so now I vacillate between overkill and too sorry to spill

These other people bend their knees and worship physicality
oblivious of time’s absolute touch, its totality
games of the skin truly leave no winners
maybe a few regretful nights and silent dinners

Without a doubt, it’s bigger than bones and words
my pride beams upon scars silenced by those pretty birds
sweltering sweetness behind each anguished grin
hop into my heart once more, take it for a spin

So swift to burn second chances
but casual cruelties do not equal honesty

Strength at the expense of others
is not strength at all

I've walked into the dark woods
It lies obliterated, charred
never as damaged as the ones who are scarred

Wells of patience are not frequently found
steadiness is rare and grows from the heart
judgement has been bled from my veins

And treading the path of truth, my art

Daggers of tranquility grace my palms
Swords sting with stillness on my mark
Havoc's time may soon come to bear
Yet, I do not falter

The crackles, the shakes
A bad night's rest falling in flakes
I slither down the staircase
I spirit through my front door

Toes tickled by grass tendrils
Hair swept by sleepy breeze
Trees whirl with disregard
A sky bluer with each breath seized

The crackles, the shakes
Earth's roars make the sky break
Luminous lances land in their wake
Setting ablaze all those fictitious mistakes

Listening to rock, reading the texts of Buddha
I guess Nirvana and enlightenment are one and the same
Thumping hearts hop like ornery frogs
Dysfunction at a critical junction ruined the day

Flipping feels and turning worms
Styx and stones, Hades leaked hurting words
Crepuscular doubt began its creeping
Saturnine habits showed few signs of leaving

No stygian thoughts, that’s my policy
Strength in serenity is no fallacy
“Tempus Fugit” but time is circular
A bipedal butterfly, flapping wings blurred

Need those giggles to wash all the bad days away
I’m metamorphosing past harmful inclinations
A few steps out of your limbo is what it takes
Kissing scars and smiles is all the same

Introspection is both serrated and supple
This is a truth that I have duly noted
As my eyes closed and the void overtook all five senses,
I felt the numbness ooze from my forehead

Seeking balance requires a dose of muffled rage
Yet, it paradoxically calls for cacophonous joy as well
The dissonance tugs at my remaining reserve of logic
Even then, my eyes do not dare open

I am to meet the Light first
Its domain rests within a lake of purity
I climb up a sparkling staircase
Lux greets me with an apathetic stare

As expected, these entities defy my expectations
They are not constructs of my eyes
They are the mind’s anchors, its vanguard
They are instinct and emotion in purest form

I show Lux the black fruit in my hands
It seems to understand and picks up the precious thing
I walk down the staircase with measured step
Whether the fruit is eaten or not is now beyond me

Darkness requires an equally enthralling journey
Despite the magma and scorch, I reach its domain
The thing eyes my hands and the white fruit grasped within them
Tenebris also seems to understand what must be done

For far too long, I have felt the conflict in my psyche
Balance is what I need and balance is what I shall receive
Lux and Tenebris must finally decide on a course of action
Reality awaits me and I quietly step back into it

I open all three of my eyes and embrace the surge
I am the Constant
I am the Chaos

My body flits across hungry eyes
My heart blows like tempestuous breeze
The whole room reverberates with sighs

My caustic tears sting and pray
I'll simply writhe the hurt away
while this empty smile stretches everyday

Faceless Man
Faceless Man
Smile for us
Faceless Man

We’ve come to see
Faceless Man
Jumping with glee
Faceless Man

Give us a show
Faceless Man
Grin through the sorrow
Faceless Man

Forget the hurt
Faceless Man
Let the red spurt
Faceless Man

You cannot hide
Faceless Man
We draw near with every stride
Faceless Man

In halls of dust-speckled relics
In labyrinths filled with prehistory
There is a room where scarabs still creep
Where the Great Pharaoh forever sleeps

Books of the Dead are affixed to the walls
Ankhs are clutched tightly by sculpted Gods
There is a room where mysticism yet seeps
Where the Great Pharaoh forever sleeps

Watchful falcons seem to soar overhead
The Sands of Time are forced to retread
There is a room where one body lays deep
Where the Great Pharaoh ends an eternal sleep

Those ****, metallic wings
No matter how far I flee
No matter how deep I sink
I can hear those blades shriek

The land is suffused with paranoia
We've poisoned sweet Americana
and in its place, soar ebony vultures

Listen my children, I have a tale to tell
How we flew out of good graces
and straight into **hell

"That is not dead which can eternal lie,
and with strange aeons even death may die."*
-Abdul Alhazred

Piercing light digs itself into my eyes
A spread of bird calls funnel past open windows
I lift my throbbing head off the splayed pages
It seems that morning breeze has been perusing my book
The Necronomicon

With groggy effort, I go about my daily routine
Brushing leads to breakfast which leads to brooding
Today is Saturday and I am beyond unimpressed
Not many activities catch my eye like they used to
I think I’ll go for a swim

Thankfully, the empty lap pool provides a haven
Loneliness was never an outstanding issue among our family
That pervasive sense of dull dread invades my heart, yet
There is a thin verisimilitude between loneliness and contentment
I muse upon the power of individuality while submerging

Half-past 11, I notice some peculiar glow spreading in the lanes
Emerald ooze steadily overtakes a pair of arms and legs
It is not long before this strange goo overtakes my skull as well
Instantaneously, terror plunges deep into my amygdala
I assume sounds of thrashing water and stifled screams

How does my body drift deeper than physically possible?
When does my mind disconnect from our tangible world?
Just why are suction-cupped serpents binding me?
Questions spill over the brim and are not met with any answers
Nonetheless, I embrace impending death

Visions assault a cloud of sensory panic
The chlorine chaos takes on saltier flavoring
I see images of cyclopean kingdoms draped in sea growth
Stupendous beings lumber with apocryphal disregard
To these incomprehensible entities, I am dust

They relinquish me back to my microscopic world
I do not know why the cosmic horrors revealed themselves
All I am aware of is that this was a mere glimpse at true evil
One born millennia before the most ancient of stars
One that will persist millennia after such bodies have extinguished
I sink back into the water, exhausted

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
*-H.P. Lovecraft

A fierce tug awakens me from drunken stupor
My sheets tumble off the edge of the bed
He’s come, once again, for His meal

It is my sworn duty to tend to Him and his arcane needs
a result of purchasing Alveus Manor, my current home
Strangely, it has been many decades since
Yet, I do not age but for my mind

To maintain a sense of control on things, I ponder
Many hours have been spent toiling in reflection
forgotten lovers, forgotten names
They mean precious little now

There is a singular memory that screeches loudest
some deal sealed with incantations and blood
scars adorn my wrists in confirmation
This memory is certainly true

I set the bowl out near the darkest part of my manor
From the floor, a trapdoor creaks upwards
I see the sharp glint of some child’s eyes
They dart around on an elderly face

He snatches the bowl with pale claws and blinks expectantly
It is then that I remember the burning whims of my duty
With a dagger and a prayer, my wrist spurts
Red nutrition cakes into the container

Prize in hand, He scurries back underneath the floor
sounds of primal content slither along the walls
He clambers back up with satisfaction
I am to be rewarded

He holds the bowl as if praising Old Gods across our universe
Elixir jets past teeth that resemble those of an infant
Creamy white substance settles in the bowl
It seems the result of melted moons

I do as I have done since first moving into this cursed place
I drink the ghostly elixir without any extrinsic cause
He flashes blood-stained teeth and hobbles away
Instantly, my eyes brighten and my skin tightens

My name has long been struck from history as well
My purpose remains free of doubt or suspicion
I return to bed in morbid anticipation
Drifting into madness, I fall asleep

A fierce tug awakens me from drunken stupor
My sheets tumble off the edge of the bed
He’s come, once again, for his meal

Our brave new world has turned remarkably cold
There is no place for inefficiency among the looming towers
Religions have been replaced with the worship of screens
Charms have been supplanted by tungsten and lithium

One by one, metropolises fell to “necessary” modernization
I consider a certain member of these abaddons as my unfortunate home
The city’s structures stand like monoliths, without luster or familiar name
A place surely dredged from the deepest hell of mankind’s achievements

Mechanical arachnids skitter across streets on continuous patrol
their silver claws and whirring sensors passively click and scan
We’ve no longer needed any member of sentient life to protect us
Apparently, that was a task more suited for our heartless creations

Any soul residing in the world has become artificial
emotions, dreams, and identities discarded and digitized
Former humans are now composed of more metal than meat
They tread with measured steps and a uniform lack of expression

I breathe the heavy clots of air through my visor and flip a few pages
Long ago, this ancient relic came to my unsuspecting attention
It held secrets of organisms that ran rampantly among landscapes
Old Terra’s fertility sprang out from yellowed paper

There is one creature that I found especially endearing
It endured the harshest of the world's conditions, as I do in mine
It was the deadliest of its kind, as I am among peers
I bestowed my home with the creature’s striking moniker

Now and forever, I live in the city of Taipan

Ashes to Ashes
Dust to dust
Peeling paint
Monuments of rust

Did you know
the average person
spends only five seconds at a piece of art?

A mere glimpse of Albright’s Dorian Gray
his phantasmal and grotesque visage
silently screaming horror

Only a look at Litchenstein’s pulp women
straw-yellow hair and ivory word bubbles abound
their comic book stories told within one panel

A sighting of Breton’s Lark
a dying sun sinking into the horizon behind her
her tired, shadowy eyes awaiting the next one’s arrival

All these fleeting moments betray art
for they do not deserve seconds
they have earned centuries

Mr. Movie

Locked and loaded, ready to go
I can already hear sneakers squeak on the linoleum floors
Everything plays out in slow motion
I guess the movies get some things right

There’s really not much to aiming down sights
nothing too complicated about squeezing a trigger
What I never prepared for is the ease of being a star
Each and every kid or teacher I shoot just sinks down
no dramatic death scenes or stupid monologues
Hell, they don’t say much at all
maybe one or two grunts on the way down

I’ve got to hand it to Arnold
When I missed just to the left of his heart, guy didn’t quit
He looked like one of those soldiers in training montages
Our brave hero crawled under the bodies of students rather than barbed wire
I didn’t expect the show
My appreciation of his ingenuity was a headshot

I make my way around the lower level of the school
A peculiar sight catches my eye
Some ****** appears to be spying on my work
He’s got one nice piece of shining metal clutched in a fist

Who’s this interesting character?


Mr. Minute

It’s finally ******* time!
This morning, I tossed my calendar in the trash
Today’s the day
I circled it in red sharpie

Geometry bored me as usual
I looked to my left and right with a private smile
None of the ******* around me could see the truth
Judgment Day was upon them
While Mccarthy droned on about triangles, my eyes stayed on the clock
Passing period was only five minutes away
That’s when I’d whip out my revolver
That’s when these ***** would know their time was up

Imagine my surprise when I heard gunshots down the hall
I quickly unzipped my backpack, took out the gun, and blasted open Mccarthy’s head
The other kids took a couple of seconds before screaming
I was too busy peering out the door to mind them
How the hell was this possible?!
I planned this out since the idea first popped into my mind
Some ****** was trying to steal my schedule

*Not on my watch

I caught you walking down the street
summer hair and red capris
asked why you did me wrong
Why did you throw me down?

I look up with blurry eyes
to mountains and foamy skies
The tip of my tongues tasting dour
Why’d you toss me off the tower?

You said love was all for fools
hot blood and lusting drool
maybe I’m just a tool
discarded by the Putrid Queen?

This cruel world always reaps
spilling darkness forever seeps
I can’t outrun the flow
Why did you leave me for dead?

The day that dirt becomes Earth’s sky
will be the day that I’ll let my darling cry
She is more tiger than fawn
She is darkest midnight rather than dawn
Her will is forged of cobalt steel
Her daily life is Hell’s highlight reel

Yet, I must treat this tough woman sweet and tender
I mark all inhibitions of love “return to sender”
For she is the graceful calm in my chaotic mind
The one that exalts whichever part of my heart is kind

Gentle is her smile, smooth and mellow
Tuned with majesty is her voice, a bona fide cello
I encase my feelings in poor meter and rhyme
because scarcely does this world hand us the time
to fully sing who we truly value far and near
and how we hold our lovers in our hearth
forever warm and devoid of fear

Why must I dream?

Is it not enough to die within reality?
Must I perish within a multiverse of concealed consciousness as well?

Why must I rage?

Caustic temper burns arteries and chokes out my life
Must I remain resigned to this illimitable torture?

Why must I question?*

The world pours its heart out to a dissatisfied partner
Must I continue down this path, this road of intellectual discontent?

Out, out in a world of pine
lay a land unmolested by time
Through and through, free of grime
was this land made, made to shine

Soon enough, decay had its day
crestfallen trees cracked and broke
ash took over roots with a sooty choke
Oh yes, Mother Nature was made to pay

Waves of denizens took to town-square
They discussed, raved, and cried out like thunder
Far too late had they realized their blunder
Mother Nature, meanwhile, had taken her fair share

The ground convulsed with violent rage
Thorny vines rapidly sunk into skin
each and every neck separated from a chin
accompanied by inhumane shrieks and the scent of sage

Out, out in a world of crimson pine
lay a land briefly ravaged by time
Through and through, now free of grime
was this land made, made to shine

Let’s go down to La La Land, ladies and gents
There are quite a few dangers to circumvent
zombified crowds of unimpassioned creeps
we’ll start spilling their lipstick-shaded blood just to watch it seep

We’ve given away our hearts calling out these fake, sons-of-*******
They’re vicious and pernicious, held together by skin deep stitches
It’s about time that artificial apathy is dusted off society’s seat
We will have our glory on the throne, it doesn’t matter how fleet

Let’s go down to La La Land ladies and gents
For there, our smiles may forever be slightly bent
It’s the disarray we crave, chaos letting us contemplate
dancing out woozy blues with flaws on our faces and sealed fates

I was beyond time, beyond space and, even then, I saw myself marginalized and confined by some unseen limit, an invisible force

It was the hand of reality snaking through the cosmos, eager to reclaim the wayward child that eluded its grasp

Despite this realization, I defied the so-called “natural order” for I, a being of flesh and blood, was not to be confused as organically pure

The opinions of a world around me had melded into my own inner monologues and construed a stardust born infant towards a less diluted path

I walk this path and, paradoxically, I propagate the path itself

Calling me pure would imbue myself with a divinatory regard, one which I had not earned and would not earn for millennia

Regardless, I was still a fragment of the universe as, no matter how minuscule a fragment may be, it is integral to constitute a whole

The smallest of fragments feel the touch and limitations imposed by Great Death

Impure as I was, I recognized that Death was inconsequential in the grand scheme

Death inspired either fear or reverence amongst mortals of every civilization but these were unnecessary reactions

Blackness or light, whichever consumes us, is simply a biological interpretation

We refer to Death as “the end” even when we haven’t had the opportunity to test this theory, to see past Death

Our skin rots, our organs and bones corrode into dust, but that is simply what we observe through our narrow scope of understanding

What logic is there in judging flesh by flesh?

Still, there is no present alternative

For now, I shall continue to soar through existence while searching for an answer

An answer to Death

People always complain that an awful individual won’t their habits
that a human being’s moral wheel, if lodged into the dirt, shall remain there
This may be the most monumental of misconceptions

What if they really are trying to change?
What if they’ve already replaced the wheel?
Chose to go forwards on a new path?

Perhaps, the reason it seems that people don’t change
is that society is cynically unaware of forks in the road
unaware that everyone is just driving past each other