Oh consume me sick brethren
wreak havoc and bleed thy sorrow
stalk infatuation with a sniggering smile,
and linger upon every hour of tomorrow

["Do you think the world cares
about your pathetic existence?"]

run fingers along dusty windowsills
cry away from the footfalls of the dead
spray your hair black, paint on your best face
from the shadows morals and innocence are shed

["You're just another freak
so give up this futile resistance."]

take your conscience by its swollen throat
saturate it in fury to stifle its desperate cries,
seeking vengeance you're killing strangers and
cutting yourself off to block out the swarming flies

blackened and bruised, you leer from the corners
and blow dreams to pieces,

["Oh come with me child" the Vampyre did rasp
"to the divide where insanity and reality creases."]

languish in frustration,
take out anyone in sight,
**** your pistol and get your trusty hook
go forth monster, and paint red the night.

She saunters down the catwalk
clad in a dress of the finest rose felt;
in the throes of her sheer brilliancy,
stages start to shimmer and the crowds begin to melt.

A raw uncut diamond, glinting,
stood out against a line of glamorised crows;
through the transparency of make-up,
her natural beauty still sparkles and shows.

Yes she's stunning, that's how she caught my eye -
but loving someone solely on looks
is like playing Russian roulette with a broken lie,

it was that little flutter in my chest
that made her the girl I eventually chose -

her beauty blooms from deep within,
a purity of such embellished upon the petals of a Rose.

Treasure is but a wanderer's lust
seeking utopia amongst the cosmic stars
it's year 2025, humanity's golden age of technology,
and a little white spaceship sets off to colonise Mars

nicknamed Nova 2, she boasts twin light-speed thrusters
polarised windscreens and a body of pure ceramite -
with a whoosh and a deafening bang
she smashes the sound barrier and streaks through the night

[#WHAM! BAM! FLASH!#]

at twenty-two hours they pass the moon
avoid a cluster of meteorite and space debris,
venturing deeper and deeper into the abyss of nothingness
their minds awestruck, their weary souls free

faced with a darkness that was un-shiftable, heavy
the danger of this mission increasingly daunting,
the longer they ignored their fears
the more the alien wilderness became haunting

what if they suddenly stopped dead
hit a snag or ran out of power?
They only had limited supplies
and the absent sun grew hotter and hotter by the hour

with the silence incessant
the sound of their own voices was obtrusive, grating,
food disgustingly vile, water going warm,
pressure steadily rising, there were concerns of the pilot fainting

--// "CALLING ELISA STARR TO THE CABIN PLEASE." //--

Elisa Starr was the cabin's dutiful cleaner
she'd clear away the astronauts *******, and occasionally mop up their sick -
for most of the crew had adapted to the lack of gravity
alas a few individuals hadn't been as quick

only 3 months in and the air had already grown stale
smelling of faint excretion and sweat,
aching and tired, she was always wiping down the interior windows
as the condensation steamed them up wet

what was the point in coming to space to slave away
when she could just do it on Earth;
once a valued member of society, a highly respectable mother of three,
surely this gruelling slavery she didn't deserve?

-//-----//-

The glowing red sphere of Mars approaches,
their destination finally (finally!) in range -
Earth was dying and this is a chance for us to start again

but isn't it already clear that we'll never change?

I gathered up my thoughts, and
gazed upon the waters of reflection,
serendipity shimmered cross its surface
I gasp, struck by the beauty of its perfection

transfixed on the little ripples and rivulets
splishing, splashing and weaving
clouds did gather above, the rain began to fall,
I sunk to my knees unawares I was bleeding

vision blurred with tears,
head swollen and aching from the cold,
I awoke this morning with no aim, but a destination,
and down this valley lane I strolled

I can no longer cook for myself, nor wash
and my hair has all but gone
some days it's as if nothing's happened
and others I know not my name nor where I'm from

my wife is long dead, my only grandchild, waits
ah, greed was always a perpetual enchanter -

alas none of this matters when you hear

"I'm sorry to say, sir, it is terminal pancreatic cancer."

And now gazing across the dewy grass
to the opposite side of the lake,
I reminisce the good times, the simple highlights
of this beautiful life Death will eventually take,

stone-cold realisation setting in for the last time
that soon I'll be gone, I know by the blood

tick tock Death, please don't be late,

I'm ready to be reunited with my Love.

I add insult to injury and bleed into the glass
they've starved this world and left me 'til last,
only through alcohol and drugs can I truly escape
but now I sit here knowing it's all too little, too late,

I tried curing them with injections of compassion and remorse
alas they only mocked me with smiles that were forced,
with greedy eyes that lingered upon my untainted flesh
'twas clear their resentment was caustic, broodingly fresh

hating their bodies and all that could be seen
so precociously perfect, but with souls disgustingly unclean
infected with an obsession mutating into disease
humanity swallowed by the cravings they strived to appease

they are the Beautiful People, yes I have spoken of them before,
but I must mention their ghastly existence once forever more,
for now I have been abandoned in this world barren and dead
my body digests itself as my nose and ears drip red

I'm not well, my skin has grown pallid and lumpy
my fingers twisted, knobbly and clumpy
they scream in the night, they scream in my head
my mind polluted with the paranoia the drugs have bred //--

[come with me, take my hand
I will lead you to the promised land]

wind howling, breathing heavy, lazy
visions of hope going increasing hazy //--

oh please-

please-

listen to me before my conscience fully dies

whatever you do //-


DON'T LOOK INTO THEIR EYES!

I add insult to injury and bleed into the glass
O2 reserve blinks on, the time to turn back passed,
stuck in this metal shell of stale air and sweat
protein packs and old newspapers the only luxuries I get

["Sir... we've lost contact with Nova 2-"
"What?! We'll bring her back if it's the last thing we do."]

I light a cigarette, let the smoke linger,
flinch as the stub burns down to my finger -
the idiots said there was nothin' to fear,
said there was absolutely no chance I would ever get stuck out here

So why have the engines stopped, dead silent and dry?
Transmission's dead, no one to hear me cry -

the stars around light my troubled, ecstatic, nightmares
as polarised glass shields me from a sun that arrogantly stares

[720 degrees and counting
various alarms at home screaming, shouting]

it's fat, it's bulbous, from violence born and bred
the heat sears and it's not long before these walls start glowing red,
water near gone, papers reduced to ashes
outside something gives way and crashes

---//-/--

surprised to be alive, well my heart still beats, if you can call that living
I'm down to the last cigarette, the protein vendor's stopped giving,
lighter's broke, along with most stuff inside,
but I can still light it using the heat from outside

[at home they try using sonar, think the problem's sorted -
argh but the ship's stationery- no longer in orbit!]

I hope they find me soon, y-yeah 'course they will

surviving has always been my best skill

--///-////--

but my skin has blistered, eyes near closed
it's boiling but somehow most of my body's froze -
finally the exhaustion kicks in, biting --//-
the puny drive to live    fighting

[through evaporating tears]

breathing by instinct

mind growing more  and more   distant

smoke lulling, so sweet

'spose it-

[YAWN]

it won't hurt to have     have just a little        sleep -//----/

My heart bleeds, oh friend can you hear it cry?
Strength gone, pride shrivelled up to die,
ignorance, fear; the only defences I've known
shuttering up that place where hope should have grown

dreams plagued with her beauty, and lure
I breathe from a body indulgent, impure
her eyes bite, her voice hits with a fist,
fangs protrude from the mouth I have countlessly kissed

the sun does shine but my mood still wanes
not my fault yet it's myself I still blame,
am not good enough, do I not appeal
will she spit humiliation upon me as I beg and kneel

will she take me in her arms, kiss me, say it's alright
will she caress my blackened heart, love me all through the night
will she **** the voices that tempt me to sin
will she be mine to keep, if only I could win

or will she burn me in the fires of rejection
**** me off into a world of deceit and deception -

a question that burns like an ember within my brain,
do I really want to know if she feels the same?

AJ