Inside the machine, the mechanism turns --
Spokes and gears, built from lessons learned.
But the gears are rusting, not turning so smooth.
So the product they yearned;
Would be one the thing they would lose.

                                                          ­                                 The gears still rusting, not turning so smooth.

Placed inside were the finest reactants --
Ordered specific for the upper-class faction.
But the gears are rusting, not turning so smooth.
So the machine produced no more than a fraction...
Far from proficient for the hunger to be soothed.

                                                       ­                                     The gears still rusting, not turning so smooth.

Inside they found some things unexpected.
The outside was fine – yet, the inside dejected.
They found the gears rusting, not turning so smooth.
So they closed her back up, left the rusting neglected.
And maybe for the best, for the machine had been abused.

                                                        ­                                    The gears still rusting, not turning so smooth.

But the rust bore down, wearing the gears.
Until the machine had seen her final years.
The gears still rusting, had stopped turning smooth.
She closed her eyes and her ears, to free her from her fears.
For they learned from the machinist, and chose simply to lose.

                                                          ­                        The gears still rusting; not turning, however smooth.

So they fixed her up inside, with some tape and some lies.
But she refused to move -- for the machine was now wise.
The gears were no longer rusting, yet not turning smooth.
The diagnosis unclear, they said “Everything dies."
But the machine had learned the ability to choose.

                                                        ­                    And her gears no longer rusted, yet never turned smooth.

This path showed her poise -- her new eyes, ears and voice.
To exclaim that her gears had stopped turning by choice.
Outside they found shine, but inside laid the rust,
Festering, growing, and being taught to mistrust.
Until the machine could no longer function --
Though the catalyst was no more than a simple deduction:

                                                     ­                          The gears no longer turned, regardless of how smooth,
                                                         ­                  But that's simply the product of a machine left to choose.

I had never felt as though I could feel, and never saw that I could see.
I never smelled the spring night’s air, or even opened my lungs to breathe.
I had never lain down on the grass, to watch the leaves fall from the trees.
I was a coward -- afraid to let my senses free.
So I kept my eyes closed tight, for fear there was anyone else but me.

I couldn’t tell you what it was that made me open them that day,
There wasn’t a window in the room, but as my eyelids broke away
I swear I saw the ocean wave, and I saw winds cause trees to sway.
I heard beauty in a whisper -- and the whisper told me to stay.

The fire in my soul was growing dim, but you made it burn so bright.
Because you made me see the day, when all I knew was night.
I had thought the world was empty -- just a room without a light.
But you taught me how to see, and you taught me how to feel.
You showed me things intangible, and you showed me they were real.
You knew that I had wounds, but they were wounds that you could heal.

If for a moment I thought I lost you, it would scare me half to death --
I had smelled the spring night’s air, for my lungs now had a breath.
To turn back was not an option, for no longer was I deaf.
I now could sense the world around me, and I knew you felt it too -
But I knew that it meant nothing unless we shared the view.
So I promise you my all, and swear myself I’ll see it through.
For I first heard beauty in whisper… and that whisper came from you.

I carry monsters some monsters with me; they lived in the dark place that I’m from
They’ve dropped masses to their knees, and their footsteps sound like drums.
But I never heard them coming, despite the fact that they were running
For the worst one of them all, was the one I was becoming

They carry a silence so loud, it rattles the heavens --
Inaudible to the crowd, but my ears it deafens
I feared one day they’d take me over --
Surely, no one could handle this exposure
But their past victims ran… instead, I pulled them closer.

It’s the demons of my past that help me make this moment last,
They brought me to the point where she was just within my grasp.
So I stopped there in that moment, and took a second just to hold it
Paid no mind to the darkness, or the clay from which I’m molded.
And she paid it no mind either; so I pray the monsters don’t deceive her
She’s from the light I’ve never seen, and she’s made me a believer.

These monsters made me blind – taught me to doubt the things I’ve learned
They broke the gears inside, but it was she who made them turn.
The fire had been extinguished, but I swear she made it burn.
And she made that flame burn bright, to be my guide throughout the night
She and I both saw the sparks, but knew not fire they’d ignite.
If this is wrong, I can’t be right; she’s my lantern in the night.
And I may be from the darkness, but one needs dark to see the light.

I can feel you all around me, like the oxygen I breathe.
You're the poison of my choosing, a masterpiece of a disease,
The most daring contradiction, and my favorite affliction.
I can feel you taking over, but you're a welcomed addiction.

I want you to course through every vein, like the blood that feeds my brain.
I want to invade your every bone to cause the sweetest kind of pain.
I'll take you, then break you; destroy, then recreate you.
If you're the world's most sacred temple, I'll be the first to desecrate you.

I'll be the motor to your machine, and we'll burn white-hot like metal --
Too ***** to be clean, and as shameless as the devil.

We won a chance at life, and to forevermore be losing --
Losing life, and losing love
As we struggle to keep moving.
We grow older, and bolder
As the weight grows heavy that we shoulder;
If when we were born it was warm, then it's surely growing colder.
From gas into liquid, and liquid into solid
Our freedom is deleted as we fight to re-install it.

To fight the pains of growing up, our souls are made numb --
We keep crawling toward the light, but to the darkness we succumb.
Then we heal, so we can feel anything at all
And we climb and climb so high -- just to feel the fall.

You ran this boat aground, and your luck was running thin.
So, as if to test the bounds of fate,
You pushed your boat back in.
And continued on your journey,
You feel the fire inside burning --
You've grown so strong since you were gone,
The devil himself fears your returning.

Once you've lost so much already, there's not much more to lose --
You might bleed and you might bruise,
But your resolve won't be removed.
For now you're stronger than ever,
Free from those ties that you severed --
Your world fell apart, but you forced it back together.

Now make survival your bible,
And write the story of your revival;
For your heartbeat sounds a symphony --
And your movements dance recitals.