Boots caked with mud
A broken key in the keyhole
And headlights that peer through cracked curtains

Talons dripping with blood
A heart stripped from its cavity
And headlights that burn through the blindness

Shirts stained with sweat
A souvenir lost by the side of the road
And headlights that cut through the devil's breath

Stars blanketing southern skies
A falling remnant of yesteryears
And headlights that have died from the overdose

He drops his bomb and calls it a feather
Gripping tightly to his rugged leather
A king of his castle, of north and of south
The worst of intentions crease a dour mouth
He sips at his courage and spits from the parapet
His voice echoes through halls like a blaring trumpet
The queen cowls, tears veil her soft face
A palisade of loathing separates their space
Absolute power drips from his brow
Eyes like lightning, striking a bough
Creaks, cracks, defiance, and spite
The king does not pardon, in black or in white
She braces, erases, knights herself with adrenaline
The spear finds its mark like a dose of medicine
Impaled, curtailed, the king gasps a breath of contrition
The reign falls to its knees, Hell's latest acquisition

I lead, grey follows
I shepherd it in ways my heart commands
I bleed, grey follows
I stitch up the wound and start again

I am unabridged
The death that I fear is only part of my story
I am tumbleweed
But I am blockaded by these shimmering cascades

I retreat, grey follows
Back to a world where my pen is my only weapon
I awaken, grey follows
I recognize that I'm completely off the beaten path

I am captive to my skeletons
And I cannot start from the beginning anymore
So I thatch a roof above my head
And build a floor below my heart

So you say there's nothing wrong
With a little blissful ignorance
Where steps we've taken are blissful
And ones we've mistaken are ignorant

Leave it to us to find imbalance
While carrying the weight of the world
No regard for the avalanche we've started
With silent stares and broken dreams

I think there's something wrong
With this blissful ignorance
You pay no mind to the way we languish
Cracking beneath these heavy footsteps

"Love is loud, but always listens,"
Spoken through a tourniquet
Stare all your victims in their eyes
Until, at last, they finally submit

Demonstrate your charisma, please
While we take notes and spill the wine
Surreptitiously, you prance about
Testing fleet footing in all the landmines

Your whispers pierce my tender ears
All my barriers are paper-thin
West to east, you're back on the move
Wearing a smile engineered by safety pins

"Love is loud, but always listens,"
Spoken in tongues from distant lands
The nearer we come to this armageddon
The further we are from empty hands

No happenstance
No sweetness
Just ashes falling like the greyest snow
Her silent war
Her lavender eyes
Squinting at brightness the sun only knows

If time had no enemies
Would we still fight for one more day?
Or would the compass we've buried
Still point to our dark and desperate ways?

No heartbeat
No breath
Just ashes covering my tired face
Her sequins
Her beauty
Torn from a soul made out of lace

Striving for greatness is never easy
It's so much simpler to lay down
Wilting and waiting to die

Until the crust of the earth
Crumbles, splits, rips open at the seams
And swallows me whole

Reforge me with tremors
Recreate my senses with aftershock
Decimate me, then build me again