Echoing footsteps call to me Deep in my fortress of stone Through the dark, I smell terror Behind the bravado Some would call me lost I am where I choose to be I know every mossy corridor This labyrinth is my domain Those who seek a monster Are sure to find a beast Lurking inside the maze Deformed and depraved Despair Devour the brave and the foolish Wickedness Beats in the breast of the paladin Dried blood upon the bricks Tread the path of self-destruction Bring me your heart filled with hate Look deep into the mirror So-called hero Recognize the horns are your own Bloodlust transformed Parody of righteousness Crusader of disgust Disturber of my peace What glory do you hope to gain? Misguided quest for confrontation Mercenary scum Step over the clattering bones Of those who’ve tried before In these lightless depths I hold court Those who seek a monster Are sure to find a beast Lurking inside the maze Deformed and depraved Despair Devour the brave and the foolish Wickedness Beats in the breast of the paladin Dried blood upon the bricks Tread the path of self-destruction Bring me your heart filled with hate Look deep into the mirror So-called hero Recognize the horns are your own Bloodlust transformed Parody of righteousness Crusader of disgust I turn my eyes away From those who’ve forced my hand Another grim memorial Bone chips and cracked enamel Ground into the stones Each monument a failure to find a middle way Dried blood upon the bricks Tread the path of self-destruction Bring to me a heart filled with hate Look deep into the mirror So-called hero Reflect upon your thirst for martyrdom Beg my help to ease your burden Purge your veins of passion’s blood

Death was melody In bursts of unexpected black Vivid traumas red sea dark These brave open doors Pewter lacerations Bringing hunger and anxiety A feeling of alignment Refusal to possess A love for fearless expiration What it means to be Descendants of the wolf Descendants of the wolf To the gray other side But still the eyes lit Shallow light shadows the spring Ease in earth Among the bitter flowers In full bloom Heartstrings black Heartstrings black From every corner Ragged breath whistling Chopped out its doubts Only an ember Shine, feverish solution Such fracturing to grow Return to the dust Tearing apart Reality that threatens Embrace the consumed United in blood Mourn another song The subtle growth requires Far graver lust Perforated of new dimensions You will have terror Melody will be born Cry out strange learning Choke all you need Cultivating to achieve Darkness seemed deeper In a small victim In the blink of Abominations The experiment delivers To lead and inspire Adversity through failure and Desire to make Falling at last Bruised clouds spilling over A shrinking sky Living its limit and shattering Straining steps couldn’t rest And the dark house your grave Furnished in the reflection Face another face A feeling of alignment Refusal to possess A love for fearless expiration What it means to be Descendants of the wolf Descendants of the wolf Among the bitter flowers (a feeling of alignment) In full bloom (refusal to possess ) Heartstrings black Heartstrings black (a love for fearless expiration) From every corner (what it means to be ) Ragged breath whistling (descendants of the wolf) Chopped out its doubts (descendants of the wolf) Only an ember

Tank treads rumble through the moonless black A village unaware Awakened by the sting of a bayonet Across a bared throat Sow the fields with quicklime And shattered bones They fire at will, they fire at will Pyres roar in the darkness To still the cries They fire at will, they fire at will Gloved fists and razor wire Penning the survivors Like starving cattle The sick and dying collapse into the filth Their eyes are hollow An orderly line Moths marching single-file to the flame Cower and obey And be allowed to crawl another day Broken hands turned to bleeding spades Digging trenches across the gunsights The patient soil awaits unslakable It thirsts, without judgment The earth starts to shake A paralytic fear The stories were true Peace and sunlight A thing of the past Shallow trenches filled in We fall to genocide We fall to genocide Flesh, blood, and irrationality It makes no difference Pull the trigger I’ll be seeing you soon Falling into a suffocating void The smoking pits The shallow graves Black with flies Ash rains upon the earth The jutting ribs The sobbing ones Staring naked at a concrete sky The question remains Unanswered, unjustified, The depths of inhumanity When victory has a hundred fathers Genocide’s an orphan Who gave the order or who just followed Makes no difference to the slain Sow the fields with quicklime And shattered bones They fire at will, they fire at will Pyres roar in the darkness To still the cries They fire at will, they fire at will

She is fire and smoke Shifting expressions I can’t hope to hold On canvas or in stone Compelled to hesitate again Lost momentum In reflection Kept prisoner by this undertaking Bound in chains by memory That fades like fog in morning sun Or is it fear that stays my hand? Cowardice that blinds my eye, Blunts my tools and drowns my inner fire This urge, this need, this drive, this obsession Pressure builds behind my eyes The blankness stares defiant Perfection that can’t be matched Swing the steel to cut and carve This foolish endeavor, bold with pride Gouge away the drab façade Reveal what lies beneath the stone Compelled to hesitate again Overcome by dread and doubt My creation’s gone awry Gripping the chisel so tight Bleaching my knuckles to white With hate I strike Into the heart of the stone Treacherous features disowned I realize The rage of the fury in me A smashing incision too deep Blunt surgery Cracks through the marble explode Shatter the cheek and the nose Crumble to dust I stumble numbly through the wreckage Wondering what I’ve done In my crimson rage Sharp stones rend my hands to shreds As I gather the bloody shards Mortared by my tears and blood The pieces fall into place I weep with recognition As I view my masterpiece at last Swing the steel to cut and carve This foolish endeavor, bold with pride Gouge away the drab façade Reveal what lies beneath the stone I bring the hammer down again And chip away the obvious I cut, I carve, I search inside Under the skin lies beauty’s bones

I dance the wind Aloft my instincts aerial Seeking ambrosia Through nettles and thorns Obstacles impede my quest My magnum opus We toil endlessly Divine industry We shall sanctify With vigil and sacrifice Sacred alchemy A legacy untold Transformation so sublime Paint the world with gold In writhing cauldrons obscure Elements converge Venom, wisdom, and wax Tears of the sun Raining up to the sky Take wing! I dance the sun Motion embodying The light divine Teach what is known A wordless vision of the world To guide the faithful to their goal Sacred alchemy A legacy untold Transformation so sublime Paint the world with gold I dance the smoke Intoxicated blissful dream Witness to calamity Our secrets stolen as we slumber on I’ve lost the sun The wind it slips right through my glassy wings My thoughts are ashes on the breeze Lost and alone, I dance the soil