I clutch the stillborn corpse of all my dreams.
How long have I held her? Minutes? Hours? Years?
I stroke the cold and sunken lifeless flesh;
The smell of rotting becomes a sweet caress.

The flies that swarm and bite I don’t begrudge:
Their sting is one last thing I can still feel.
When dust to dust, may I that latter be;
Do I hold on, or does she have hold of me?

All my world, how can I let her go?
The less there is, the more I hold her close.
I find familiar comfort among the bones
And, solitary, worship what was lost.

When finally I can lay her down at last,
Who will be left to help me dig the grave?

Your eyes are older than your years; they tell
Of battles fought and kingdoms built and lost.
You lived to tell but came to count the cost,
Survey the beachhead where your comrades fell.

The lines that cross your face tell of the years,
Of losses, learning, smiling, silent shame.
How much was childhood’s uncreased face the same?
At what point was it etched by joys and fears?

And can you point and say this was the track
That led from this pain into that release?
Or does the mirror cause you to reflect
On where this path began, where it might cease?
The wisdom in your eyes betrays a glance –
Somewhere amidst eternal conflict: peace.

I don’t wanna get my head slammed in the door
I don’t wanna have to climb through all the pain
Though my heart is screaming why am I alive
When connections are what drive me to exist

Trying to relate I wade in deeper still
Trying to escape I wrap you in my pain
I continue barging where I don’t belong
And I know the trap is baited, barbed and set

I rush toward love or complete oblivion
If there’s any diff’rence I can’t help myself

You say you’re alone;
You tell me I don’t really know you. (I know, I know)
You close the door on me, say you’re protecting me
from who you are. (I see)

But I see you through and through;
I would come in with you;
I stand and knock at your door.
I wish you’d look at me,
that you would truly see (please see)
I wholly love who you are.

You say you can’t cope;
You say that the pain is just too hard to bear. (let me carry)
Still you sit alone inside, too afraid not to hide,
Afraid to stain me. (let me see)

But I would be clean with you;
I would come in with you;
I stand and knock at your door.
I wish you’d look at me,
that you would truly see (please see)
I wholly love who you are.