a number like a bruise on the underside of memory  
a barcode tattooed on the back of a dream  
And the echo of a name you forgot to forget  

six legs of an insect crawling across the ceiling of thought  
five fingers clenched around a stolen cigarette  
five again, because repetition is punishment, is ritual, is comfort  
three seconds before the door slams shut  
two eyes watching from behind the mirror  
one is the self, fractured, refracted, renamed  

655321  
not a number, but a sentence  
not a sentence, but a silence  
not a silence, but a scream with the volume turned down  

the world turns in loops  
milk drips from a broken glass  
a Beethoven symphony plays in reverse  
and somewhere, someone is laughing  
but it’s not joy, it’s not mockery  
it’s the sound of gears grinding in the machinery of remorse  

I am not I  
I am 655321  
I am the sum of my subtraction  
the residue of my rebellion  
the ghost in the system  
the system in the ghost  

and still
the number pulses  
like a heartbeat  
like a countdown  
like a name I never chose  
but always answered to.

Now is the start
We’ve gone apart

This is a start
On your mark, fresh start

You will be okay, you're smart
Please be strong and stay on your guard
Going separate ways, return eachother's hearts
Hit the eluding bulls eye, stay sharp

Now imagine and see
How happy we can be
When no one has to lead
And never need anyone again
Our souls are not condemmed

Now I promise I’m sane
The time we kissed in the rain
Sensual pleasure, ****** pain

A thousand smiles, a single frown
Go further down the road
Paintings in the mausoleum
Even further down the road
Follow the coyote, follow him
The shallow lies that made you cry darling

The coyotes warm
Ripped and torn

Follow the coyote, he’s been so good to me
Head north, tread east
Paradise, pandamonium and a good nights sleep

I’d runs in the woods
If I could
Run in the woods
If you would
Can you remember where you stood?

A boy sat and drank his milk, then went out and killed
******, stealing, fighting
He’d done it all

He went to the house where the old man lived
Came through the door

To the house where the old man lived
Threw him to the floor
He had done it all

And he wanted more
He felt no remorse, no shame to hide

“We have a new technique we can use to turn him into a member of society instead of a hoodlum”

“I was cured alright”

655321

Come on now follow us
Come on just follow us
Deep into the underbrush
Take your time, no time to rush

This is where it starts
Where we part

This is the start
So near so far from the start

You’re everything to me
But it’s not meant to be
Now we begin our lives
Where does the future lie?
At the start