I used to see him at night
When everyone in the house was asleep
I'd be awake, shivering and shuddering
Waiting for the man who'd always make me weep

Now I know how it sounds
Unbelievable, and all
But I know what I saw
What I heard, his nightly call

He'd emerge from the darkness
In the corner of my room
Ask me how I was doing that day
And then inform me of my doom

He said I was a bad boy
And that I deserved to be punished
Said that everyone I loved
Someday, would vanish

The more he'd speak
The more I'd weep
And the more I'd weep
The more he knew he had me beat

He'd tell me everyone I loved would leave
And that I'd be stuck here all alone
Reluctantly taking what horrors came
Shrouded in black even as the Sunlight shone

Everyone has a set time
He'd say everyone's heart was just a "ticker"
That each one only had a certain amount of tocks
And that all profound connections were just mindless bicker

Nothing matters and nothings real
That we lived in a place that only the naive could survive
No one loved me and no one ever would
Everyone's just passing the time until they eventually die

But I was so young
What was he to expect?
Like I was strong enough at seven
To second guess his promises and bets?


When I got older though
He mysteriously stopped showing
I grew into a happier person
But all the while knowing

I learned the truth
About life and about death
From the first time I saw him
When through the shadows, he first stepped

What really scared me
Even as I aged and matured
Was that he'd come back
Emotionally torture me some more

Even though he didn't
I haven't seen him in we'll over a decade
Whenever someone I know stops breathing
I think of him brewing the poison in my head he made