I need a picture on the wall of my coffin of stone
Put on a pedestal
Put on a shelf
A thousand years crusting tears on my self

Paint me immortal
Paint me a Saint
Or paint me the nightmare that everyone claims

Cause I am a paradox
A knife’s bloodless blade
A faceless body in the mirror
I can’t wipe away

Sinking on land
Quicksilver sand

Poison on lips
Drowning the tips of my
Sanity
Profanity

The sting of a bee hurts less
Than the thought of you leaving
Cause I dance the fine line
Of empathy and tragedy

Oh the church bells will ring for
Dancers and fools
Pantheon of Justice
Your name’s just a tool

Oh the road ahead is dusty
And the trees are barren fruit
But my back is to your hangman love
And I’m sorry I’m leaving
So soon

When I talk to eyeless peers
Inane weather and harmless gossip
my voice echos in my head
Perfect moment, perfect answers
But I sometimes fear they hear
incomprehensibility in my words
uncanny in my personality
So, for safety, I resort to binary

I grow flowers in my lungs
to cover the rot in my teeth
Sugar-spun cigarette
melting when I breathe
Recoil from comprehension
offer the barest curation
I live forever in three dots
below my name in your inbox

I find all the things wrong in me and justify
chemical imbalance and medweb certified
But I know, gently, when the house is quiet
I only face my terrible self in the silence
Just a conversation with the mirror
just a prosecution in these eyes
And no one else to know me
but my doppelgänger mind

Make us fragile
like a flower
Unoriginal, textbook
Crooning love songs behind a hat on the street
I’ve seen mice with more calluses and sinew
Tough on the teeth
Grainy and cheap
If I die, I’m tender and sweet

Make us soft
like the morning’s first snow
Harbour us, carve us
Show us off on your front porch
beady eyed and smug grinned
Then rain falls and I’m run-offs
Footprints and mud
Snowman head smeared on the driveway

Make us sensitive
like your childhood TV dial
We’ll dance, we’ll bow
Until our minds get lost in a fog of
wrong signals and wrong sounds
It’s all static and I’m all electric
My breath my skin and my sight
Then you’ll hit and swear at your box until it learns not to fight

Make us young
Like we once knew
Skinned knees, knuckleheads
Holding out our hand and taking our then incomprehensible
comfort and safety
Time will have its pound
The world will have its way
But now I’ll savour this grain that was weighed
From old hands to blemish-less mine

Oh how far the great have fallen
Tumbling and turning in the air
Crashing, crashing
Falling, falling
Soundless breath choking their words
And squeezing out their lies

Oh how silently the fallen have risen
A step at a time
The wraiths of the earth
Looking, looking
Feeling, feeling
They drag their ball and chain
Nails on boards screaching
Reaching for a taste of sun

Oh how the innocent stand
Sword at hand
The smell of doubt
Flavourful and sweet
Behind their masks and bitter sweat

The children enter
Into the halls of glamour
Past silver busts
And rotting stone
They fear, oh they fear
They know

Tongues of flame
Lips of death
Eyes of fools
Hands of the doomed

They crawl, oh they crawl
And the innocent bear the burden
As the great fall and the fallen rise
As the past catches up and the future slows down
And those at the middle

Wait

We were born
With no silver spoons
Just the bitter taste
Of a dead man’s moon

The city bore us
In canals we were raised
We rule these paths
As rats and decay

(the crows remember)
(the crows remember)

We are the filth
That feed your trees
Catch a pigeon
Let it sleep

From dark we rise
From blood we reign
With golden seals
And silver chains

(the crows remember)
(the crows remember)

Friend or foe
Your time has come
Pay your dues
The deed is done

Watch the streets
And watch the sky
Cross us once
We dare your try

(the crows remember)
(the crows remember)

sometimes the wind picks up all the leaves
that fall from my bark and land on my knees
and all that ive thrown and all ive suppressed
gets blown back at me in my own little mess
and the rain didnt help for the rot in the muck
and now all that i see is the pain i had held
and for some Forsaken reason my
hands touch no sky
for the Grey is above and it taunts me and lies
and i thought my roots had found peace had Found truth
in the Depths of my earth
In the Silence And my youth
But it turns out compression of rock is disturbed
And now the Soil kicks
and now the ground Jumps
and The storm it yells victory in the ocean and Rust
And my body it cracks to show all of the space
where i thought homed tranquility but out birthed my rage
and All the times I’m Empty
and all the Times i smile
all false propaganda for a Stone Under trial
And That stone will go two ways
that Stone it will crack
or it’ll reach the Point and Move Mountains
itll start to Yearn Lack
And the Ball It keeps Rolling
And It Will not stop
And Now all That Time’s left With is
Carnage and Crop

and Soon I will harvest
the blood in my roots
and the quiet will Serve my hibernating
for the next unbridled pursuit

I love the same way
the bees love my carcass
Cause my body feeds the ground
for flowers to grow

And I hope that you feast
on their honey
Cause that’s the only way
it’ll get to you

I love the same way
a bomb loves the fire
Cause when it kisses that is all
it can see

And I hope the war ends
in your favour
Cause only then all the deaths
will have worth

I love the same way
the birds love the horizon
Cause to follow it is to fly
forever

And I hope at their end
you will find only feathers
Cause then you’ll know that their freedom
wasn’t free

Doorknob parties like every ghost of a hand
That passed the threshold of
Route and routine
Sometimes I feel the grooves where your fingerprints
Burned acid into the brass

It was boring
Wet cardboard and drywall
We say goodbye like any other day

Stange how the quiet feels heavier than the talk
But carry it anyways
There’s a meaning in that too

And to love
Oh to love
The Unseen Ones hate us
They hate for we choose hate
When we can love where they cannot

Dance! The world dances!
The rocks the soil the river the trees
The worms the fish the birds the city
Waiting for your next miracle

Wake from this dream
Like putting in ear buds
Forgetting you turned the volume
Up up up

It’s the folly of man
To think us a march
Of drumbeats and boot-steps
Of razor edge lines

Bloom! The flowers last a day!
So cherish them!
Hail them!
We may never live another life

I hate the way my face
sloughs off in chunks when I stare at the mirror
I pull a frown, and a piece falls from the cheek

Each time I scrabble sluggishly at the sink
slapping back the flesh with a sound like mud cakes from when we were kids
When mirrors were for checking fallen teeth
and soft toy drama plays

Not a play by play surgical cross section with
every dermatologically perfect stencil I’ve scrolled past
Projected across my forehead

Not a soundtrack for
the way my bones would crack and grind
If I could squeeze and mould it just right


I hate the way that if I stand still enough
I can smell the curdling of my inadequacy
Mixed and folded into the screams in my head
until I can’t tell which ends and which begins

I laugh and joke and fear so desperately
that they don’t burn through my wax covered skin
To find all the holes I thought I beat out of me
when I learned I stayed cleaner in pretty packaging

Give me your eyes
so I can see out of them
Gaze upon this stretched out body and observe
Which wine pairs well with me,
being forgotten or being known?
Either way, I’m intoxicated on your judgement
and drunk on the guillotine of the youth

i dream of moths and ants
in decaying living rooms
sleep in my eyes
hornets in my mouth

criminals chasing me
down fractured streets
my ghost siting idle
on a broken ferris wheel

sometimes all the days blend together
and you can’t tell yesterday
apart from tomorrow

and when you fall
from the surface of the sea
where sky meets the atmosphere
and the fish swim in trees

you’ll find that not much
matters at all

I steal golden apples
From the mouths of the statues of masters
Every night,
I sneak into the garden
Fountains tinkling poems
Rocks whispering symphonies

The sightless eyes of the moon
Track my every breath
Indifferent, uninterested

I bite into my prize
Each sweeter than the last
And I crave,
Crave the fire and ash
That burns my throat when I swallow
That clogs my lungs and eyes

And, the thief I am,
Came crawling back each time
Addicted to the sound of fervour

And every night hear me
Howling at the moon
Every night,
Crumpling into embers and smoke
Baring my soul to a deaf world
Drowning in the sounds of stolen words

The birds of the sky
Peck at my flesh
In the forest of bones
Of bones

I watch this quiet affair from afar
Silent, crouching
So as to not disturb
The thin veil of nature that has settled

Men in blue suits
And shiny shoes
Believe that power comes
From rising numbers
And diplomatic wars

But I
I have seen real power

Of the calm and rage of a brewing storm
Wind grasping, grasping
As electricity runs over my skin
As I root in place in the face of God

But I
I have seen real power

Of life where no life should be
Saplings growing, growing
Against the ashen backdrop
Against death and death and fires and hell

But I
I have seen real power

Of rivers and oceans and shapes in the waters
Constantly swelling, swelling
So dark and deep and whole
So dark and mysterious and promising

But I
I have seen real power

Of ice and hail like shattered glass
Stretching far, far beyond
With the cold beauty of a killer
With the sharpness hanging in the air

But I
I have seen real power

Life existing as an extension of decay
Decay, decay, decay
To return, return,
From life to death
To death to life
Over and over

The trees understand no concept of fear
Just the roots in the soil
And the branches in the sky
And everything between simply
The next life

Maybe someday someone
Will trip on my skull
Or find a fox who had his fill of me
For the end is simply a promise
Of life
One feeds the other
Over and over

Oh
True power
It was never really there
Just energy
And cycles
And the stillness of existence
Of time so colossal
It looped in on its self
Bending gravity and light and ideas and-

Oh what am I saying
Why are you here
Listening to the whispers of old ghosts
Old bones
Live your life
Forget the sleeping beasts
And the purpose of things
We are but little people
In the the scheme of the giants
And the dreams of the ancient
And the whisper, whisper of-

Quiet days with the fan turned low
Soft wind across knuckles
In solemn contemplation

The dog sits, begging for scratches
And there’s only me,
the air
and all the rumbling thunder
of thoughts and headspace
In between

Is that where you want to end up?
Rock bottom
How much further can you go?
Bring a shovel
Bring a drill
Bring the whole gang

Gather your children
Gather your friends
Gather the beggars
And the dogs too
Watch!
An amazing feat!
Rock bottom
Indeed

O mama!
Won’t you forgive me?
O papa!
Won’t you stay?
Just you and the walls
And the darkness below
And the sky just a glance
Through a keyhole

Such a pity
Throw a ladder down for the poor lad!
Pound on the ground
As much as you can
The world won’t hear you here

Dig
Why don’t you?
Look for your coal
Your fool’s gold
A dead man’s errand
An idiot’s wish
Dig

Maybe you’ll find something worth your time
Maybe you’ll realise a lesson to learn
But what else is there for you to say
Rock bottom
Rock bottom
Rock bottom

Fool with your wolf cry
Fool with your crocodile tears
Fool with your faux smile
Fool with your empty heart
Rock bottom
Rock bottom
Rock bottom

Just you
Just there
Just nowhere to go
Just rock
And bottom
And no rope to spare
Just echos
And chills
And death and decay
And your fate in your hands
Rock bottom

Standing in the blue light
Visible for all but eyes
I’ve got ghosts that take my place for me
Golden dust when sun goes low
Sifting through the air and snow
Don’t forget me when I never show

You’ll know when I come home

I’ve got things I have to do
***** dishes, ***** shoes
These bleached hands are not meant
for you

This blood, these veins
I’ve traded it all off for
Grand escapes
Can you tell I’m making it up
each day?
It’s too late to say that I’m not
the same

Go ahead, pull the trigger
This is bigger than us both
Even if it’s just beginning
There’s be meaning in it too
I’ve made my bed
Will the world sleep in it?
Even if you’re late
Can you say that it looks pretty?

Mongrel in an alleyway
Bleeding but I’ll never say
You’re the snow I stain my virtues on
Skin me like an animal
Gentle hands and carved out bones
Will you still smile when you catch sight my ghost?

Only you’ll know when I’m home

oh tales of rivers
and thunder cries
with rainstorm tears
and starry eyes

sing me a song
whistled ‘tween trees
howl me a moon
with Night’s black winds

the people light fires
in prayer to the sun
and the ravens tell lies
to the broken they’re sung

but all stories end
with a lesson or two
and this echo will carry
black winds, black wounds

One
I will speak
My stitched mouth released
The breath held back
Falls across my lips
Like gravity

Two
Do you not see?
The poison and smoke
The diamonds only mirrors
The strings that hold us down
Like gravity

Three
Sing with me
Believe in me
Let us fall on sinners
Spear of Truth in hand
Like gravity

Four
Let the people soar
Let beauty rise
Swinging with the rhythm of life
Let us not fall like once before
Like gravity

Five
Grace the earth with our voices
Feel the salty wind in every fibre
And cry with joy and sorrow
Hand in hand in peace
Without gravity

The rain falls thick
Like the white veil of a bride
It slides down the window,
Tracing tracks in its wake
Then gone
Without a trace

The little drain bubbles
Fast flowing and small
It carries a leaf down the lane
Who knows where it’ll go

The sun is hidden
His face is clothed
He is but a wisp of wind
Of empty shroud
Of listless pale

Away, away
Gone but a memory
And as the memory dims
As the sound fades away
With the croaking of bullfrogs and humming of trees
Away, away

Look up
Look longingly
Never have I dreamt of such a day

I’m scared for the future
Like honey dripping from the comb
I only see in front of me and I’m scooping, scooping
I’m ready, I turn away and back
And now it’s all collapsed

Every so often I suddenly posses the eyes of a being outside my comprehension
And I slam back to wakefulness, yet never less dreaming than before
Madness, madness

I’ve seen my grain of sand sliding
Closer to the free fall of the hourglass
And now I can’t remember anything
But the misty dread of eyes
Staring and waiting