Storms dredge up skeletons
Undercurrents tear up the river's bed
Cold fingers of death
Reach down into the black water again

The Sun's reflection cradled
Then its soul scattered
I can't tell if it's me
Or the water
That has become distorted

Moonrise
The cold face in the sky whispers
And promises to soak up all my sorrow
Promises to hide the coming dawn
Promises that there will be no tomorrow
All I have to do is sleep
And turn my face from the Sun

The world promises golden coffins
Whitewashed tombs
Pretty, painted lies with smeared mascara
If only I let myself become like the rest of them
The mindless masses that cry when they are supposed to
Just the right mix of personal ambition and social apathy
Perfect citizen soldiers of mediocrity
Marching in tune with the dirge of mankind
Left, Right, Left, Right, never anything in between

I am so tired of seeing my reflection
I am so tired of looking for it in the faces of others
And seeing only the dead, rotting eyes of corpses staring back at me
Hollow flesh and warped desires, the living dead walk among us
I wonder if there are any humans left
Or if we are all infected
Slowly dying as the disease takes hold
Learning to crave the flesh of our own over time
History a ledger of those consumed
The future an endless banquet of bodies

My head aches with screams
I cannot tell where mine ends and others begin
Schizophrenia would be a welcome change
To the seeping, dead voices of human beings
This slime that eats its way through my ears

Why

Why does one lingering voice torment me

Why must I be scorched so by hope,
And carry it with charred hands that break and bleed?

Everything I have ever seen speaks in a voice of ash
This world was born of violence and dust
And all that lives upon it is wrought in violence and dust
All life ends, all things pass

So why must I always be so tormented by unyielding light
And carry a yoke of clouds and gold
While my body decays around me
While the world decays with me

Why do I have a voice to speak
When the entire world is plagued by deafness?

Why do I bother with words
When mankind barters in blood?

WHY?

3:01am
11/04/08