Do ears deceive or is it tongues that bleed? Our mouths taste stale like we've been chewing on iron bars We sustain On a diet of moldy bread and gruel We aim to please with our symphony But we shan't bother to tune the instruments We sustain A note that went flat some time ago We sustain A vision we've long known is lies Tell strangers more truth than friends Dark secrets are high in demand They sell so well we just keep on Increasing the supply Can we deny that inside is out? Lost count of all the accounts of dis-satisfation We retain So much water we're struggling not to burst We remain Encased in glass despite the cracks Sewage creeps in from the under classes We assimilate but can't relate To the gibberish they speak; we use it to Diversify our holdings The front's coming down The trash has grown up out back The odor is stronger than it was before But still they come Lick clean our dirty plates Never get enough of what we Regurgitate

We can always steal back to the first page They’ll torch the fields in which we graze And fire their guns in the air as we dance right through the blaze Well, tomorrow is forever, I’m obsessed with today Enchanted by the hour, infatuated by the moment Refuse to let this slip away And I don’t care Nor should you ‘bout whose hearts we break Along our merry way For I have seen what happens next And I will slash and burn this terrain with absolutely no regret For my dreams Are haunted by suits and commutes Gray hair and wrinkled skin draped around a wrinkled corpse I can’t wake up, no no no no no It doesn’t have to end this way We can always steal back to the first page And never read the epilogue

Creeping, crawling Across the floorboards, nails tearing up hard wood Drooling, growling Premonitions – hear them hissing in the darkness A great fire! Pestilence! Throughout the valley Hear the screams of your children Are you prepared To face the consequences Of your ambivalence You’ll never see this coming down Hush now, son We’ll shield you from All you fear And what you fear is near Tossing, turning Atop the mattress, under a lone sheet The covers requisitioned At the request of my guardians They say monsters Oh those scary monsters under your bed Hear them chattering Keep you up all through the night They got razor-sharp claws to rip off your flesh Acid spit to melt your muscles Tusk-like teeth to gnash your bones And wait till you see how big their dicks are Hush now, son We’ll shield you from All you fear And what you fear is near Sure, there’s a price And it may seem steep But keep in mind Where you’d be without A great fire! Pestilence! Throughout the valley Hear the screams of your children Are you prepared To face the consequences Of your ambivalence You’ll never see this coming down It seems Friend and fiend speak in the same tones Knights and beasts look a lot alike They share a shape in the shadow Cut out of me Can’t stop shaking, still scared shitless Last night they came, stole my last blanket Stripped me naked, they’re growling louder Wrapped up in a ball, I’m without power I guess I’ll have to sleep with my eyes open A great fire! Pestilence! Don’t stop to think Just keep up your shrieking

My thoughts spring out from this abscess make friends and coalesce Fly to the border, shake at the gates and rattle the guards Shackles shed and chains break free no map for how we flee Pick a direction, wherever it leads is where we’ll be Step back and retrace The paths that led us to this place Circle around then crouch to the ground And wait for the sound And we sing do do do… Lights are all green, let’s go The flesh is dead, stripped off to rot muscles twist to form knots Venting blood, blue and red then filtered clear Peasants scream as we descend the high plains where we are bred Newborn gods, demon seeds Or something obscene? Step back and retrace The paths that led us to this place Circle around then crouch to the ground And wait for the sound Step back and retrace No experience can relate Sensations now familiar somehow We’ll always glow And we sing do do do… Lights are all green, let’s go Sent by the stars, we’re ahead from the start Kicking up dust, debris in our wake Skipping ‘cross rivers and looping ‘round peaks Waving to the fans in the stands The souls below will feel our speed How they long to join this dream How hard they race to catch up Lost as sonic booms erupt Lights are all green, let’s go We’ve passed beyond all that’s known Hold onto yourselves as we break through

The air is too hot, I can’t breathe Methane seeps through ventilation Inferno ignites in my lungs And spreads across cerebellum The sun is still down but light comes From a horizon composed of taillights Speakers carry a voice to my ears Don’t know the words still I hum I recognize but can’t process These data streams Glance at the clock; there’s time lost I’ve been somewhere else I can’t recall ‘cept the faintest hint of elan dissolving like sugar onto tongue (come inside me) florescent light splits the head (deify me) While screen tears away at the sockets (come inside me) Still the melody plays through my mind (deify me) Let it swim over I recognize but can’t process These data streams Rolling like waves into subconsciousness She’s leading me And yes, she says You have a meaning And yes, she says There is a question you should have asked yourself by now What is when and where is why, but how only appears If you know which way to tilt your head Nothing is obscured between the lines All that she shows is a lie All that I know is fallacy Will she teach me the words to her song? Will she teach me how to abscond? How can it be more real than real?

Lived so long in black white Sweeping all the grays to the side The awkward color intruder Shuttled out the door with haste Repel, repel All complication Expel, expel All consternation Home Our cherished spot must be sanitized A model of homogeneity Children with peach complexions Wrestling atop manicured greens Two-story homes perfectly spaced And painted in an approved shade Resist, resist All augmentation Insist, insist On assimilation Home Sentries roam the yards, patrol the perimeter Safety a priority Home We’ll dig a moat, fill it with crocodiles Keep this community clean Home Within castle walls, chimneys smoke tonight What a heartwarming sight Home While the world revolves we will stand in place

I heard too much Panting voices seeping through hallowed oak The distinctive tone of flesh against flesh Stinging this cuckolds ears So what’s the fuss? Betrayal so common as to be cliché A twisted tradition passed down generations Not worth commenting on today I’ll do it again Close my throat when I yearn to scream out But I can’t quite form the words To describe the squalid sensation that brews Deep within my gut I saw too much A shared glance caught in the peripheral Misperceived? The thought occurred to me As well as would I know? I’ll do it again Close my throat when I yearn to scream out But I can’t quite form the words To describe the squalid sensation that brews Deep within my gut I heard too much… Amazing how well resentment keeps

Bright light breaks up the night like poltergeist On holiday from the grave She wanders ‘round the room, eyes filled with gloom Waiting on her playmate We’ll see if my charm can span The width of your jilted heart Though I know the answer I’ll play this game with the utmost fervor Distance kept, we share a drink, we’d never think This is anything not kosher Clock strikes three—it’s time to go, she will follow The path I lead to my street Stay here one night No more dear Can’t bear to be alone Stay here tonight By my side And patch up these fissures With the morning sun she runs Hide her head, shake off the night Cold and worn, I’m alone Safe in the thought that it was nothing And nothing is so safe (How can this mean anything to you? How can this mean anything to me?) I’ve been in love once or twice and this isn’t it But it certainly does a good job of plugging a hole Like some Dutch boy with his thumb in the dyke Saving the town from inundation I’m so scared of flooding over Every time is the first, every time is the last So we say See you same time, same place next week (Are you happy? Are you sad?) No, I’m just satisfied What more can I ask for? What more can I ask for? Bright lights break up the night like poltergeist On holiday from the grave

Your face is cold Tears roll down and freeze The sides of your nose Icicles hang off your cheeks Your appearance Is someone I once knew She fell asleep I doubt a kiss would wake her now Does she dream my memories? Long days lost staring at the sun Northeast summer haze Swatting away mosquitoes that Suck away our youth I take your hand Force you on the dance floor Your moves are stiff Gave up flair for perfection in form Do you dream my memories? Fingertips gently tracing ‘cross the skin Leaning close to whisper Open the door it will never shut Open the door it will never shut Open the door it will never shut At least that once was What I thought Wait—what’s this I see? Recognition in your eyes For a moment, for a split second Everything is exactly how it was With hope we fight it But it comes to no avail Time, God’s cruelest creation A bulldozer clearing everything in its path Run away, we’ll run away But you can’t move, you’ve sunk into the mud